Birthday Bash Indeed
by SmoothCoffee
Summary: Maka sees Soul coming out of Chupa Cabra's a bit too satisfied and believes he is like every other man. Soul notices her depression when days pass as she eats and sleeps less. With Maka's birthday drawing near, can the two come to terms to celebrate? SoMa
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I sadly was not creative enough to come up with characters as brilliant as the ones from Soul Eater. Alas, hopefully I will be creative enough to generate a thrilling story using them at my disposal.

Alriiiight audience! This is basically my first REAL fanfic that I've done. *cowers in corner* Not gonna lie, I'm a bit scared about how this will turn out. But! I SHALL PREVAIL FOR I HAS WOODEN SPOON AS PROTECTION! Reviews are nice and appreciated-esp. if it's constructive criticism! So with that said, let's get this party started!

**-Birthday Bash Indeed.**

Maka

Maka's world came crashing down, deafening her ears to the cars whizzing by and the cacophony of the crowded streets, leaving her with nothing but a dull throbbing pain in her chest. It was if a tsunami had just slammed her now weakening body into rocks, causing her breath to escape. The green eyed blonde just stood still, frozen in place.

Across the street from Maka was the promiscuous club, Chupa Cabras, and her 'loyal' companion, weapon, best friend, _the man she loved and trusted_- Soul Eater Evans. He had just exited the establishment with the stupidest, most satisfied smirk plastered on his face Maka had ever seen. Maka was to say the least, stunned.

After the initial shock of her unfortunate discovery, **anger** set in.

"WHAT. WHAT? WHAT THE? _HOW DARE SOUL CHEAT ON ME."_ Maka screamed to herself. "_Well, I mean it's not as if we were _together _but there's a special bond between weapon and meister, and he just betrayed it! I'm going to MAKA CHOP the FUCK out of him! I'm going to crush him so hard, that he won't ever be able to speak or smirk like that again!" _

Anyone knows Maka is upset when she uses profanity. Wave after wave of rage washed over her, just as waves come after a tsunami worsening the damage. Finally, the calm settled and the sea was still. Maka realized that Soul couldn't have possibly ever cared about her; he was going to be like every other man she had known. He would betray her, cheat on her, leave her alone, abandon her, _hurt_ her. She couldn't handle it, depression hit. Maka just wanted to scream to the cruel world; cry out in agony-let someone know how much it hurt that the man she loved was fooling around with shady women.

It was the quickest emotional rollercoaster, lasting a whopping 82 seconds.

"_Move Maka! It's no big deal, you should have expected this," _Maka tried to convince herself. It wasn't working very well. Finally her wobbly legs set a slow pace towards...where was she going?

"I...I...I can't believe this. I trusted him, I love him. This is an ultimate low," the blonde meister sniffled to herself. Aimlessly she walked towards a park, where she sat on a wooden bench that has held other saddened souls; the meister felt very pathetic.

"_Maybe I should confront Soul...but then, what would I say? __**'**_Oh yeah, I care that you are seeing other women and not telling me?' _It's not as if we're together. He has his own life. I don't have a right to stop him. I don't have a reason to be so upset. I'll just pretend like nothing happened-I can't worry Soul because of my stupid, unrequited feelings. I'm so stupid."_

Maka sat on the wooden bench until the stars glistened like the held back tears in the corner of her eyes.

"_I should get home soon...it's getting cold, and I'm hungry. I wonder if Soul noticed I'm not home; if he's worried..."_

Despite her inner thoughts, the meister still sat in the park, surrounded by darkness and things that go bump in the night.


	2. Chapter 2

****Disclaimer: ****I'm just a teenage fool who uses other people's hard thought characters for my own advantage. AKA, I don't own Soul Eater. Sad panda.

Soooo I did this a bit funky and made the Soul/Maka POV into different chapters. Should I have Soul/Maka POV from the scene/scenario in the same chapter to make them longer or keep Soul/Maka POV separate chapters? What's easiest and more enjoyable for you guys to read?

_I feel some experimentin' with the format blowin' my way...hopefully I don't get scurvy._

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Soul**

"I must be one of the coolest guys out there," Soul smirked to himself. "Yeah, I'm definitely awesome, no one could possibly be cooler than me," He complimented himself as he exited Chupa Cabras. The white haired shark tooth happily walked down the sidewalk towards his apartment that he shared with his meister.

"_I can't believe I'm doing this behind Maka's back. I feel a little guilty keeping things from my meister, but it can't be helped," _Soul thought. With his self-reassurance of his actions, he decided to stop by the grocery store to grab some ingredients for dinner. It was his turn to cook after all, and he wanted to make something delicious and satisfying-perhaps something Maka would like too. He strolled down the aisles scanning the shelves for something, as if waiting for the perfect food to jump in front of him and say "Hey! Buy me, take me home and make me for dinner!". Finally he spotted some angel hair spaghetti.

"_Pasta. Perfect. With some cool meat sauce too, that sounds mouth watering," _Soul concluded, as drool actually began to dribble from his mouth.

After buying the necessaries, the albino finished his walk home in content. He unlocked the door and stepped in side, his hands full of groceries.

"Maka, I'm home," He called out. Silence greeted him. "Makaaaaa~ I got something delicious for dinner." Silence replied. _"Huh, that's weird. Maka left the Academy before me, she should be home by now. Maybe she's in her room absorbed in one of her books." _

Soul went and knocked on Maka's door. When he could hear no movement inside her room, he creaked the door open, almost expecting the blonde to be asleep on her desk with a book falling out of her hands. Though her room was as empty as the rest of the house.

Soul shrugged off the weirdness, deciding that she must have stopped by the book store or talked to Professor Stein after class. He went into the kitchen, grabbed a pot and boiled water for the pasta. While the water was boiling, he took some ground meat and threw it in a pan on the stove, heating up the meaty goodness. Once the water was boiling, he threw in enough pasta to feed 10 people and then added tomato sauce to the ground meat. Next, the albino grated parmesan cheese into a bowl and waited for the pasta and sauce to be ready.

"_Easier than slurpin' down a tasty soul," _the shark-tooth grinned to himself. He was quite proud at how much his cooking skills have improved, that wasn't to say he was a great cook in the least.

Soul set the table, then took the sauce off the stove and placed the cooked pasta in a strainer. He compiled all of his creations into a huge bowl, set it on the table, and waited for Maka. Though she wasn't home yet, and it was already 7pm.

"_Alright, now I'm getting a little bit worried...where is she? It's past 7pm. I made her dinner and she isn't even here to enjoy it. How uncool..."_

"_I'll call her cell phone." _Soul speed dialed #1; no answer. "_Alright, she normally picks up. Come on Tiny Tits, stop being uncool and worrying me."_

After a half hour passed and still no meister, Soul grabbed his leather jacket and the keys to his motorcycle. He set to the streets, determined to find his missing green eyed blonde.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Cyaat currently is typing in third person, and also typically does so in her writing, which consists of characters and places she jacked from Soul Eater.

"I'm sorry! I promise I can do better, please don't hurt me, I-wait, what? I...I got some positive reviews? I'm not horrendous? They like it and can't wait to read more? SPLENDID!" -my thinking this morning.

Thank you all SO much for reading, and especially the people who reviewed-CrystalzAnimeTurtle, Danni, DemonScytheSoul and Asdf- my very first two chapters! Yeeee so excited. Your words encouraged and helped me so much!

Now, *drum rolls* Ladies and Gentlemen, Weapons and Meisters alike, I present you, chapter 3.

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Maka**

Through the night, Maka heard the distant rumbling of an engine, though it barely registered in her mind.

"_This is not like me," _Maka noted while slapping her cheeks, as if doing so would snap her out of her depression.

The engine noise now became clear; she noticed the sound was getting louder, closer. She recognized the slow sputter as Soul's bike. Finally becoming aware of her surroundings, Maka noticed a large oak about 10 ft from her. Grass stretched out in front of the bench, where it continued until the green tickled the feet of the forest roughly 600 ft way.

"_How long have I been sitting here?_" the meister asked herself. She found her answer when she look at her phone. 12:12 am...about 5 hours had passed. 11 missed calls, 26 text messages-all from Soul. "Shit," she spat out.

Maka assumed that Soul was on his way to the park to pick her up. "_Perhaps he had looked everywhere else and couldn't find me."_

Just as she prepared herself to be lectured by Soul (internally laughing at the irony of the situation-normally _she_ lectures _Soul_), Maka's Soul Perception senses were tingling.

"Was that a kishin egg I just felt?" She turned to face the dark, ominous forest. A minute passed. Two. Dead silence. Silence?

"Wait, wasn't Soul coming this way? Did he turn around? Was I mistaken and it just wasn't him?" Maka rotated to face the street.

Distracted, the meister didn't see the black bandage-like arms shoot out from the forest. The raw feel of worn linen wrapped around her ankles and forcibly tripped her, dragging the surprised girl towards the shadows, leaving just enough time for a scream to escape her lips.

The smell of the Kishin hit Maka in the face next; a sickening decay of flesh and withered humanity. The meister didn't even have enough time to think about vomiting from the smell, before she was pulled into the air and slammed against a tree. Her back disgustingly cracked as she crumbled to the ground.

Maka huffed out, "Alright you filthy Kishin, your soul is mine!"

The dexterous girl leapt to her feet, darting towards where the arms were emanating from. The creature came into view; the sight caused Maka to gape openly like a suffocating fish.

The Kishin was 22 ft tall, with thick, muscular legs. The torso was wrapped in black, frayed, linen bandages that were the epitome of madness. A large, toothy grin plastered his face-that smile being the only thing visible. On his head was a type of helmet made from crack leather and bone, shielding his eyes and nose. He had no apparent arms, except for the ends of the bandages whipping wildly around him and snapping, eerily similar to Medusa's snakes and Vector Arrows.

Maka continued to stand dumbfounded. "_How am I going to fight without a weapon?_" Weapon. Maka paused. "_If Soul doesn't need me, then I don't need him!_"

The meister tore off a branch from a nearby tree to impersonate Soul's scythe-a pathetic comparison. She nimbly shot into the sky, kicking off from a tree and straight towards the Kishin's head. Maka swung the limp with full force, "HYAAAAA!" The branch snapped against the monster's head, breaking in half and just barely tickling the spot where his nose should be.

"Pathetic." Maka declared, throwing the cleaved branch aside.

Plan B. The blond charged towards the Kishin, slipping underneath his legs and then jumped high towards the tree canopy.

"_If I can get on his backside and deliver a kick to his skull, perhaps I can stun him and buy myself some time..."_

Just as Maka was finishing the twirl of her powerful kick, a bandage appendage grabbed her thigh and slammed her into the ground.

**Crack.** Blood splatter from her mouth. "_Broken ribs..."_ Maka winced, picking herself back up again. "_I'm useless without a weapon...without Soul..."_

Maka's heart clenched painfully at the thought of him-at how utterly useless she was without him, how alone she felt. The fighting fire that her emerald eyes normally reflected began to dim. The meister mistakingly stood still a millisecond too long, leaving the Kishin an opening. He wrapped his bandages around her petite figure, squeezing the breath from her.

"Hehehehe. Such a weak, helpless girl," the Kishin finally spoke. His voice was deep and creepily similar to the scraping of broken glass, crunching gutturally together.

Maka shivered.

"Ohohoho, so you realize you're pathetic?" the Kishin smirked.

Maka's body went limp in the clutches of the Kishin; the fighting fire dying quickly.

"You are a bit puny with those tiny tits, but your soul does look taaa~sty," drool dripped through his rotting teeth. "I might as well have fun with you, YAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHA."

Bandages began to creep up Maka's legs, touching the fringe of her skirt before slowing lifting it up. Other bandages took off her jacket, reaching up her shirt.

"_I should fight back..." _the molested girl wearily thought. Soul's smirk from when he left Chupa Cabra's entered her mind.

"Tiny tits. No sex appeal. Book worm. Pathetic, pathetic, can't even find off a lowly kishin egg" the imaginary Soul taunted. The albino sneered at his cowering meister.

"_What's the point anymore..." _Maka thought as her vision began to blur, her eyelids becoming too heavy to observe the scene much longer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, Cyaat is not rich and famous off of the huge franchise Soul Eater because she did not create said legacy. Instead, she must steal characters because she is but a starving college student.

My chapters seem a bit short to me...when I write them out on paper, they carry on for pages and pages and I think, "Wow, That's a ton of writing! It must be at least 2000 words!" Nahhh not so much. Reality is a bitch. Maybe they're short because I split up the different perspectives. I wish I could have chapters that were 5000 words long D: Baby steps Cyaat, baby steps.

Oh, was I rambling? *giggles awkwardly* Wellllll then I'll just leave ya to chapter 4.

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Soul **

"Shit. It's already past midnight and I can't fucking find her anywhere!" Soul growled into the wind. His deep and frustrated voice echoing off of the buildings lining the empty street.

He had checked streets, the Academy, Tsubaki's house, the basketball court, courtyards, alleyways-any place that was still open at this time of night. The last place to check was the large park towards the edge of town. He called Maka's phone again, a cheery voice greeted him. "Hey! This is scythe meister Maka Albarn, I must be busy right now so please leave a message after the beep!" Beep.

"MAKA WHERE THE **FUCK** HAVE YOU BEEN? I'M WORRIED FUCKING SICK AND I CAN'T FUCKING FIND YOU ANYWHERE. WHERE'D YOU GO?" Soul screamed into the receiver towards the cheery voice, though he was more talking to himself than the machine at this point.

A splitting scream severed the crisp air and reverberated off of the surrounding infrastructures.

"_MAKA!_"Soul's agonized thoughts and voice echoed each other. "_You better be alright!"_ He raced towards the scream. "_I should have left earlier...No, I shouldn't have left her side in the first place. I shouldn't have left my meister and gone to Chupa Cabras..."_

Guilt wormed its way into Soul. The weapon revved the engine, speeding towards the forested park. "_Why did she come here?_ _It's the opposite way of our apartment and on the edge of town. Maybe she was kidnapped?" _The more Soul thought about it, the more restless he became, squirming on his leather bike seat.

The park came into view. Through the dim street lights, he could discern Maka's school bag resting on a bench and drag marks across the grassy lawn. Ignoring the cease of cement, Soul sped his bike onto the lawn and towards the trees where he now heard dull smacks and saw branches shuddering.

"Don't worry Maka, I'm coming!" Soul shouted into the dark, hoping that his voice would reach its destination.

As he reached the edge of the woods, the movements inside the shadows stopped and he heard a low, menacing laughter. Soul threw his bike to the ground regardless of his kick stand, and rushed into the thick.

He half expected to find his meister with her enemy subdued-begging for mercy. But more than anything, he expected the worse. The scene he came upon happened to be **much** **worse** than what he was expecting.

In front of him, a pathetic body was dangling in the air with dull emerald eyes, half concealed by drooping eyelids. Maka had blood splatter around her mouth and on her blouse; a disheveled pig tail falling out of the rubber band, leaving wisps of blonde hair to frame her pale face. Thick, black cloth was tightly wrapped around her arms and legs, with other strips of cloth snaking their way into her shirt and under her skirt. Soul followed the snake-like bandages to the owner- a huge monster clacking his teeth together in delight, seemingly not noticing Soul's presence.

Soul could feel his face reaching undiscovered shades of red as anger impacted him; not only was his meister being fucking **groped**, but he wasn't the one groping her. "_How dare that fucking monster touch __**my**__ Maka!"_ His ruby eyes couldn't help but notice how Maka's now closed eyelids made her appear somewhat peaceful-contrary to her position; patches of bare skin was exposed on her stomach and upper thighs, her skin looked soft despite ugly bruises already beginning to form... "_Snap out of it, Soul!"_

"WHAT THE **FUCK** ARE YOU DOING TO MY MEISTER? GET YOUR GRIMY HANDS OFF HER!" Soul raged, turning his left arm into a scythe and charging forth.

The weapon soared into the sky, slicing through the bandages that held his beloved meister. Soul transformed his arm back before catching Maka as she plummeted down.

"Maka! Maka! Oh Shinigami, please, please speak to me! Open your eyes, this is so uncool. Come on, please!" Soul cried out, trying to conceal the shaking in his voice that was beginning to climb up his throat. A thick sob caught him. "_Stay calm Soul, stay calm. She's just unconscious, you feel her heartbeat. Right? Be cool, don't stress Maka out, just stay __**calm**__," _Soul tried to console himself. He wasn't doing that great of a job.

Soul gently moved a shimmering piece of hair away from Maka's face. He held his meister's warm, pale cheek.

"_At least she's breathing..." _Soul thanked Shinigami that his meister wasn't in the death god's clutches yet. He gently set her down on the ground and faced the monster.

"_This monster must be a kishin Maka sensed...Idiot. Running off to fight it without me, she always tries to do things alone." _Soul silently scolded the careless meister, but more than anything he was worried about her current unconsciousness and injured state.

The Kishin had been withering in pain from having some of his 'arms' amputated. Recovering from the blow, the Kishin rushed at Soul, who in turn charged at the monster while transforming into a partial scythe.

Hearing the sounds of battle, Maka's eyes fluttered open. "Soul...?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:**_** "**_I can has Soul Eater?" "NO. NO YOU MAY NOT. YOU MAY NOT OWN SOUL EATER." "Oh, phooey ):"

Alright alright, I'm whippin' out these chapters! Probably because while I work all day I don't have much to do so I write. Guess that's good. Hope I don't hit writers block...*knocks on wood* I'm actually pretty proud of myself for once in my life writing a coherent and linear story that hasn't been jumping all over the place. *pats self on back*

Thanks all to my viewers! Please subscribe or review, let me know your feedback. It's a great helping tool to me and really encouraging :) Plus, when I get email notifications it always puts a smile on my face. DO IT FOR THE SMILES, GUYS AND GIRLS.

Thus I conclude my statements, and without further ado-chapter 5.

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Maka**

Clang! Scrape! The clashing of metal against the Kishin's helmet echoed into the night. Spine-chilling shrieks were heard whenever Soul sliced the bandages. Grunts and cusses could be heard escaping through the weapon's sharp, gritted teeth.

Maka slowly became aware of the situation. "_How long was I knocked out?"_ Maka breathed in and tears formed in her eyes; her ribs screamed in agony. She felt intesne pain caused by the sharp jabs protruding into her abdomen. "_I must get up...Soul can't fight alone..." _

"Soul." Maka spoke as she picked herself up off of the ground-ignoring the protest her body was giving.

It took a minute for Maka to stand, then she steadily breathed in and out, concentrating on ignoring the pain, pushing past it. Once her nerves were settled and the meister believed she could fight, she summoned her weapon.

"Soul!" Maka called running towards the scythe boy.

"Maka, you're awake! You should be resting, a cool guy like me can handle this bastard," Soul replied in mid-battle.

Maka could see that the battle was going no where. If anything, Soul was starting to tire and would lose his edge soon. "_He normally doesn't fight by himself; this battle isn't going to last much longer at this rate" _Maka grimly observed.

"Soul, I am your meister and we will fight together," Maka stared at the albino sternly.

His crimson eyes faltered for a second, as if debating whether or not to argue with the feisty girl. "Fine," Soul conceded.

Soul jumped towards Maka and fully transformed; she caught the shaft in her hands, cringing a bit as the extra weight pressured her broken ribs. The metal felt comforting in her worn hands. The scythe breathed and flowed to the tempo of Soul's soul beneath her gloved fingers. She felt unbelievably close to her weapon whenever they battled together. They relied on each other, trusted one another, opened up everything to each other- if they didn't, then death would inevitably occur. Maka took in a deep breath, holding this feeling close to her soul, trying to remind herself of the good things in the world, and surely Soul was one of those things, right? But being this painfully close to Soul caused Maka's heart to squeeze uncomfortably. Her problems and crying would have to wait for another time, for right now together they must dance the waltz of battle.

Soul's face appeared reflected on the blade. "Maka don't push yourself," but the meister was already surging towards her opponent.

"I will finish you Kishin and take your soul!" Maka declared, swinging the scythe as an extension of her arm and self. The blade impaled the Kishin's tree-trunk legs causing a deep gash to appear. Maka deftly hopped back as all the bandages whipped towards her; the Kishin howled in pain.

Maka circled around, trying to hit the monster's back. She swiftly vaulted off a nearby tree and straight towards her destination only to be blocked off by the incessant black straps. Repeating, Maka attacked from every angle trying to cut the evil soul. The Kishin was becoming extremely defensive-not allowing Maka to get any closer to him. However, that didn't stop the Kishin from constantly whipping at the meister or slamming her into trees.

"Soul, let's resonate. We'll finish the job quickly," Maka suggested, heavily breathing. She clearly was worn out and trying to hide her discomfort.

Soul's worried face appeared in the blade once more, "Maka, I-" he started to protest but he caught sight of her emerald eyes. They showed determination to finish this fight. "Alright," Soul answered.

Maka and Soul passed each other's wave length back and forth quickly, raising the intensity and strength of their soul's wave lengths.

"HAAAAA!" both weapon and meister cried in unison.

Maka could feel that her wavelength was off, but continued the process. Soul noticed the difference too and spoke up, "Maka we should sto-"

"The legendary form of a scythe meister, Witch Hunter!" Maka interrupted Soul before he could express his concern.

The resonation was nearly complete as Soul's blade grew in length and width-becoming sharper with an open set of teeth, ready to devour its prey. Suddenly, the black blood rushed from Soul into Maka, causing Maka to scream a hairsplitting howl.

"_It feels like lead is pouring into my limbs, my blood, my soul. It's making everything heavier and slower. I can feel the madness spreading. Why isn't my Anti-Demon wavelength taking effect?" _ Maka tried to coherently think, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

The meister heard a high-pitched, hysterical laughter deep inside her soul. But she was Maka Albarn-and she did not give up!

Despite what was happening internally, the blonde rushed towards the Kishin. Maka knew she would only hold out through this last attack. She couldn't screw up. Concentrating on her speed and power, the meister swung the Witch Hunter- cleanly cleaving the monster in two. The last words to escape through the Kishin's giggling mouth were "Pathetic meister, pathetic girl...weak..." just before his abdomen was sliced.

Maka landed on the other side of the clearing a little less than graceful. She collapsed to her knees, trying to use Soul's handle to keep herself upright. A giggle escaped her lips before turning into a maddening fit of laughter. She bent backwards and looked towards the sky with crazed eyes. Her cackling echoing towards the stars. Soul immediately transformed back, catching Maka in his arms. "Maka! Snap out of it!" the worried weapon cried. Soul had only seen his meister like this once before, and it had been hell trying to pull her out of the madness.

She just laid in his arms laughing before the throbs in her side were too much to ignore anymore. The petite meister slowly closed her eyes snickering, with the last sight being Soul's distressed visage.

Darkness enclosed the girl for the second time that night; Maka heard the same demonic laughter from before, imprisoning her.

"Hello, Maka," a familiar figure appeared, biting his fingers with the most devious smile.

Nightmares plagued Maka through the darkness-threatening to take her sanity all together.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **As ordered by the gov'ment and copyright infringement laws, I hereby declare that I do not have the pleasure of owning the universe of Soul Eater.

I have a bit of a dilemma guys. So when I'm writing, I always write Maka's view and then Soul's view-one right after the other. So that's why two chapters are always posted at the same time. However, I wanna make you guys squirm and waiting for more because I'm a cruel mofo :3 So I have been thinking about only releasing one chapter a day-that is, if it is written of course. Yay or nay? I think good things come to those who wait. Teehee.

Thanks again to those who are reviewing and to those who are simply reading this :) DemonScythe, CrystalzAnime, Asdf, Author-in-exile.

Asdf-I wanted respond to your comment so here it is! Yes-this is mostly going to be a story about how Maka is sad about Soul 'leaving' her. There is a reason that the black blood is involved, and it does affect Maka by making things much worse for her. However, this fanfic is not going to be centralized around the black blood or anything, by any means. So please continue to support my writing by continuing to read ^.^

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Soul**

"Maka! Hey, Maka! Open your eyes!" Soul pleaded towards the girl in his arms. No response. "I'll bring you to the school infirmary. Someone's always there, right? I'll get you help. Maka, don't worry, you'll be okay," Soul spoke to the unconscious figure, panic creeping up.

"_I forgot how light she is, how frail,"_ Soul marked as he picked up his meister and ran towards where he had thrown down his bike. "_Good, I didn't damage it."_

Soul quickly set Maka down and then picked up his bike; he leaned it against a nearby tree. He lifted up his meister onto the bike, positioning her towards the front. Soul then walked the motorcycle off the lawn and onto the road with one hand on the handlebar and the other on Maka. Once his feet hit the pavement, the boy got on the bike with Maka in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her sides, reaching to the handlebars. Maka was unbelievable close to Soul. Soul could smell her strawberry shampoo, the faint scent of Earth and sweat that Maka had picked up during the battle and just the pure essence that was Maka. Her aroma filled Soul's head and enticed him. He could feel Maka's legs pressed against his inner thighs and her back against his chest.

Soul's heart quickened with the realization of the little distance between him and the girl he loved. "Stay cool Soul, stay cool," Soul said aloud to himself.

He started the engine just as the sleepy sun was beginning to peak over the hill to illuminate the city with light and warmth. "_Good_," the boy thought. "_People will definitely be staffed at the infirmary to help us._"

Then it struck him. "Awh, damnit! I've been up all night, Maka didn't get to eat my awesome dinner and I left it cold on the table. She is injured and I didn't even eat the Kishin soul because I was so distracted _and_ something is **clearly** wrong with her-other than her normal abusiveness and woman problems. This sucks," he sighed, his snowy hair blowing in the wind. On top of that, Maka's hair was also being blown towards Soul, hitting him with waves of her scent and driving him _mad_. Soul had to start thinking of cold showers and other unappealing images...

Soul accelerated and wove through the streets until he reached the familiar, looming, symmetrical, academy. Soul parked at the bottom of the stairs, putting his kickstand up and disembarking. He then grabbed Maka bridal style and ran up the insane amount of stairs.

"They **definitely** need a quicker way to get up to this stupid, _freakin'_ school," Soul huffed up the stairs.

He continued to run, growing weary and out of breath from the exercise and the night's conflict. Not to mention he was functioning on no sleep and he was just utterly, emotionally exhausted. Finally, the infirmary was in front of him as he slammed the door open, heaving. This caught the attention of the man sitting on a swivel chair, Professor Stein, and gave the nurse, Nygus, a bit of a jolt.

"Stein! Please...help...she is injured! Kishin...fight," Soul wheezed out between difficult breaths.

Stein looked towards Soul's arm to see the scythe meister unconscious, heavy bruising forming all over her body, and blood around her mouth and shirt. The girl's hair was knotted, dirt smothered her body.

"Nygus, please take Maka to the examination room. Bandage her wounds, do a full body x-ray, then clean her up a bit," Stein calmly ordered the knife weapon. Nygus rolled over a gurney in which Soul placed Maka gently, he whispered "It's okay Maka, you're safe now." Nygus wheeled Maka out the door and down the hallway with Stein about to follow.

The mad scientist turned towards the scythe weapon, "Are you injured at all? Do you need any medical attention?" Stein asked looking the boy up and down from head to toe. Soul just shook his head no. "Alright, then I'm going with Maka. I'll be back later, in a few hours. Perhaps use this time to get some rest. You can use a bed here if you like. It looks like you've had a rough night," Stein motioned to the empty beds in the infirmary.

"Yeah...thanks," Soul distantly replied. He laid down on a pure white bed with crinkly sheets as Stein closed the door. The weapon pulled the curtain around the bed to block off the rest of the room. Soul was thankful for the soft, comforting bed. His muscles were able to relax; sleep was nudging him gently, calling for the albino to shut his eyes. Soul couldn't sleep though. He was too worried about Maka.

Thinking about the events in the last 12 hours, Soul began to organize his thoughts and process them. "_Something was absolutely off...not just her actions and words, but her wavelength. It's almost as if it was...wavering? Maybe because she was in pain? No...that wasn't it. Upset? Maybe she was upset that she couldn't defeat the Kishin by herself? I thought she had finally learned to rely on me..." _Soul sighed at the thought that his meister **still** ran off without him; it made Soul feel as if he wasn't good enough to fight with her. Soul resumed to his analysis. _"She also didn't come home after school-where'd she go? Had she been fighting the Kishin since then? Is that why she didn't answer her phone, because she was fighting? Maybe the Kishin kidnapped her after school, tortured her until she got away and began fighting it. Maybe it touched her bo-" _Soul's breathing quickened as he thought of the hideous creature defiling his love's body. He could feel his anger rising; he wanted to punch a wall.

"_No way! That didn't happen, Maka wouldn't allow it. No, just...no,_" Soul tried to convince himself while biting his knuckle, drawing drops of blood.

Soul wasn't sure how long he laid there, trying to decipher the night's events and Maka's strange behavior. No matter how many times he went over it, or how many different possibilities he thought of, all Soul had in the end was a shit load of questions and even more 'maybe' answers. Nothing was definitive.

Soul heard the door open and the sound of wheels rolling. He pulled back the curtain to see Maka on gurney in a white hospital gown. She had bandages peeking out around the collar of her shirt indicating that her ribs were wrapped. There was a blanket over the rest of her body, so Soul couldn't assess the damage there. The patient was being wheeled by Nygus, with Stein close behind. Nygus rolled Maka next to Soul's bed.

"She should be fine, Soul," Nygus noted sweetly as she saw the weapon's agitated face. "She has 4 complex fractures on her ribs, a hair line fracture on her right femur with additional heavy bruising on her legs, arms and back. But she's a strong fighter. She'll be better in no time." Soul simply nodded his head, "Thanks, Nygus." With that, the nurse left the room leaving Stein standing next to Soul.

"Now, Soul. I hope you got some rest, though by the looks of it you didn't. However right now I need you to tell me everything that happened."

"Understood, Professor," Soul took in a deep breath and began retelling everything from yesterday after school to the current time. He conveniently left out his trip to Chupa Cabra's, but made a point at noting Maka's strange behavior. Soul talked for what seemed hours. Stein had remained silent during most of Soul's recount, only interrupting to ask a few clarification questions. At the end, Stein nodded his head and left Soul so the scythe could rest.

The weapon looked over at his peacefully sleeping meister. She looked okay; she had some color back in her cheeks. Soul sighed.

"You're safe next to me, Maka. I'll watch over you, so sleep peacefully," he smiled to himself and in time drifted off to sleep while gazing at the blonde.

Sometime later, he was startled from his sleep by an unrecognizable, shrill scream piercing the silent, stiff air. He snapped his eyes open to see his meister thrashing in her bed, tears steaming down her face with her mouth twisted open. Soul almost didn't register the scene; it seemed too surreal. Goosebumps formed on his skin when he realized the scream belonged to her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Cyaat is extremely happy and energetic today! (shockingly-because she's acting like she gets a normal amount of sleep when she's one sleep deprived mofo). Because she is in SUCH a great mood, today she doesn't mind not owning Soul Eater.

...ZOMG. Okay so I'm in such a great mood! Mostly all because of YOU guys! Yes, you. Every single person who has subscribed and reviewed, and even those that I don't know if you are actually reading this, have made my day. Your words and comments have inspired me. I feel so incredible that something I just randomly started writing has so many people enjoying it ^.^

I would also love to **thank** DemonScytheSoul, Author-in-Exile and Alex-chan 1234, who have given me encouraging words when I wasn't able to write this chapter effectively and consoled me. It gave me hope and strength that I'd be able to make it through this little writer's block!

Thanks again to those who reviewed the last chapter! DemonScytheSoul, Anonymous, Asdf, Sally White and crazychick1313.

As for my update schedule, I would like to make a note. Monday-Thursday I will MOST likely have at least one chapter up every day, if things go well and such *knock on wood*. On the weekends I tend to get a bit busier, so it may be hard for me to write and/or update. Just thought I'd let you guys know ^.^

A question that has come up is "How old are Soul and Maka?" The story is set up after Soul has become a death scythe, but Soul and Maka are still students at the academy. So, around, what? 16? 17?

This chapter was a bit difficult to write, I'll admit. I struggled trying to describe certain scenes and was unsure about it. Then I was at my friend's house laying on the couch and "BAMMM" it hit me. I grabbed my computer and just began typing. I really liked how this chapter turned out, so I hope you enjoy it too!

Well, I've been rambling again *blush* I'll just leave ya to it.

-**Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Maka**

Maka was floating in oblivion; her irregular, rapid breathing reverberated loudly in her ears. There was darkness surrounding her, numbing the rest of her senses. She was so disoriented, not knowing which way was which or even where she was.

"_I need to figure a way out of this place; I need to get back," _Maka originally thought. However, she revised that statement when she remembered the scene of Soul leaving Chupa Cabras. Her heart felt like it was being stabbed with a serrated blade, bringing tears to the corners of her wide eyes. "_What's the point of going back if Soul isn't there for me? He'd rather go mess around with other women...I've been abandoned. I should have known this would happened," _the defeated girl began to withdraw into herself, putting up barricades and walls, anything to protect herself from further pain.

So the blonde just decided to bask in the calmness and emptiness of the dark. There was sort of comfort knowing that there wasn't anything there; there as nothing there to hurt her. That didn't last long because suddenly she was lurched downwards, and was placed in a room with wood flooring, red curtains, and a grand piano with her scythe weapon sitting on the bench facing her. She recognized this room; this was where Maka first asked Soul to become partners. So many memories have been made, and it all started with this room. How many of those memories were false? How many times did she believe in Soul, only now to find out the truth?

She looked down and saw that her clothing was different than from that memory. The blonde was in a black, knee length dress with strappy black sandals. Her pale arms were veiled underneath black lace. It was simple, yet elegant, though Maka would never admit that to herself. Her blonde hair was down, with two little hair ties tying back her bangs. Maka then carefully examined her love; Soul was wearing a black suit with white stripes, and a red tie. His hair was down in its usual spiky appearance. Maka scanned his physique, wishing to be held protectively in his strong arms, caressed by his rough hands. However, he had a worn look on his face, his fingers balancing quietly on the ivory keys. His lips were pulled in a slight frown, wrinkles forming on his forehead. His crimson eyes looked somber.

"Soul, what's wr-" Maka began to ask, but Soul had begun to play the piano.

The tune he played was a disgusting, sharp piece. It was laced with hatred, distaste and disappointment. The meister knew the piece was for her; even though she couldn't understand music, she knew the _feel_ the song was giving off. Tears silently ran down her rosy cheeks.

The song continued, turning into a criticism of the girl. The music nearly spoke, "Pathetic. Weak. Stupid. Never good enough. Ugly. _Unloved." _

Maka just wanted to scream at Soul to stop; she got the picture. She knew that he would never love her. He was a cool, charismatic weapon and she was a flat-chested bookworm.

Maka began to slump down to the cold, unwelcoming floor. Soul stopped playing and looked at the distraught meister. "You see Maka, you're not good enough for me. You think you are amazingly smart and athletic, but you're not. You'll never get a guy, especially a cool guy like me. I'll never love you, _Maka,_" Soul hissed out the meister's name as if it was a contagious disease and with that, the weapon left the room leaving the girl all alone.

"I know...that you're right..." was all Maka was able to say through her thick, mournful voice.

The scene dissolved the piano, so the room was empty. The crimson curtains were torn and stained; the floor was cracked and dusty. It showed the emptiness of her heart, her soul-the void that Soul left in Maka.

The belittled girl curled into the fetal position, hoping that hugging herself would give herself some sort of substance, something to hold on to, like hope or comfort. It didn't console her. Maka screamed an agony enriched shriek; a bone-chilling shrill that she almost didn't recognize her own voice. It was the scream of someone who had been abandoned and lost the only thing important to them. Her voice becoming hoarse from anguish.

Maka felt a heavy weight on her shoulders and the room began to shake and deteriorate, exposing the surrounding black. Maka looked around, bewildered,"_What's happening?" _She felt her presence becoming smaller and translucent.

The meister woke up with feeling Soul's hands on her shoulders, shaking her. "Maka! Maka! It's just a dream, Maka, wake up! Somebody help!" Soul's voice was laced with distress, as he looked around the room searching for anything to help his meister.

Maka's eyes finally opened and she saw her weapon's face distorted with emotion. "Soul...? What're yo-" Maka began to ask for an explanation, but Soul cut her off.

"Maka! You're awake; you were screaming horribly. Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? Why were you screaming? Should I call Professor Stein?" His questions bombarded the still half-asleep blonde.

Maka could only remember snippets of her dream...no, nightmare. Mainly feelings rather than words or images. She remembered feeling utterly cold, alone, abandoned..._unloved_. She also remembered the song that Soul had played for her. Goosebumps formed on the patient as she remembered the eery, depressing tune. Not to mention, her throat felt scratchy and raw from screaming, both in the dream and in the infirmary. The meister looked up at her weapon who was peering over her. He was moving his hand towards her cheek, as if to caress it softly in his hands, hoping to comfort her.

She slapped his hand out of the way and sat up a bit, leaning away from Soul. "I don't remember what happened, though I feel fine," she lied through her teeth hoping her faltering emerald eyes wouldn't give her away.

Soul seemed stunned by the reprimand, holding his hand a bit curiously. Though he shouldn't be surprised since Maka constantly barraged his head with literature, but somehow that slap seemed...different. It wasn't just Maka's normal violent behavior, but it was as if she was _afraid_ to be touched by him.

"Don't bother Professor Stein. It must have just been a bad dream, I'm fine though," Maka reiterated, attempting to smile weakly at him. Her aim was pointless, Soul wasn't convinced.

"Maka, if something is wrong, it's **okay** to tell someone. You're not alone," the albino soothingly said.

"But I am alone..." Maka whispered in a small voice. Soul couldn't quite make out what she said, "What'd you s-" Soul initiated but the door creaked as Professor Stein walked in.

"I heard a ruckus. Everything okay here?" Stein inquired. When he saw Maka awake, he noted, "Maka, so good to see you up. How're you feeling?"

"I'm_ fine_, Professor, thank you for asking. I just had a bad dream and must have been screaming, but I am **a-okay**!" Maka acted like everything was normal.

Soul and the scientist looked unsatisfied at the patient, clearly not impressed by her facade. The two men decided to stop pressuring her, it wasn't going to go anywhere.

Maka merely pulled the thin, scratchy wool blanket over her mouth and muttered,

"I promise I'm fine so you guys can leave."

"Do you want something to eat?" Soul questioned, knowing that she hadn't eaten since yesterday at lunch during school and it was now close to dinner time, two days later. She must have been starved, especially after the intense fight.

"No, I'm not hungry," Maka stated, contrary to Soul's thinking. "Soul, you should go home, sleep in a comfortable bed. I'm okay here by myself."

"There's no way I'll leave you Maka. I don't mind staying here, and it isn't even all that uncomfortable," Soul automatically replied.

"I know you'll leave me...so just go, please," Maka was nearly pleading him. Soul just stared at her in disbelief and sat down on a chair next to her bed, clearly having no intention to leave. Maka turned her back to Soul and closed her eyes. "_Soul...please, leave. I can't stand you looking at me knowing that you arn't actually __**looking**__at me_." For the umpteenth time, tears silently escapes Maka's eyes, unseen by Soul.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**Yada yada, Cyaat doesn't own Soul Eater, blah blah. I know, I know, okay?

Alright alright! I seem to be out of my little writing funk. Yipee-that scared me for a second. I was worried that I would never get my writing mojo back D: But it came back quickly ^.^ Ohhh also, I dyed my hair pink ;* Just in case anyone was wondering...

Anyways, Thank you to everyone who supports this story and me-without you, we would be starving college students instead of starving college students _who can __**write!**_ There's an important difference.

And thus, I present you, chapter 8.

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Soul**

Soul stayed by Maka's bed until she finally fell back asleep. Even as he watched his meister's chest rhythmically moving, he felt uneasy. When she was awake, she seemed so, distant, upset, _depressed_.

"_What's bothering her? Why won't she trust me with what she's thinking?" _Soul thought staring at a mesh of blonde hair.

Soul's lazy eyes were failing him; he was trying to stay awake so he could be there for Maka when she woke up, but his body was telling him otherwise. He slowly let his head rest on top of his folded arms on the edge of Maka's bed, defeated. He continued to stare until at last, he drifted off into a restless sleep.

When the scythe opened his eyes, he was greeted with an empty bed and the blanket missing. He soon located the blanket, which was draped over his shoulders.

"_What the...where did Maka go? She shouldn't move, she's injured! Was she taken for tests?" _Soul speculated as he hurriedly got up and stretched out his sore back.

He saw the IV that was in Maka's arm pulled out, resting on the bed. He glanced around and saw the dirty clothes Maka arrived in were still in the brown paper bag, on the desk.

"_Great, she bolted, running around Shibusen, half-naked."_ He threw the blanket on the bed and went in search of his partner.

"_Damn it, this is the second time I've lost my meister in 48 hours. It's getting a bit old. Now...where would she go? Library? Cafeteria? Hopefully she's not flashing the world her butt too far from here." _

The albino received an unwelcome pink tint on his cheeks as he guiltily thought of his meister's bare bottom. "_I should be the only one to __**ever **__see Maka like that...wait, what? God am I being uncool, thinking about Maka like that while she's injured and M.I.A" _Soul was deep in thought and trying to keep his perverted mind from straying away when he bumped into somebody.

"Hey, Soul," the demon weapon Tsubaki smiled sweetly down at the confused boy.

"Oh, hey Tsubaki. Have you by chance seen Maka?" Soul questioned.

"Uhm...well, I think I saw someone who looked like her running down the hall. Was she in a hospital gown? I didn't realize she had gotten hurt," the raven haired girl informed, with a bit of worry in her voice.

"Yeah well we got into a Kishin fight two nights ago. She'll be okay, she just shouldn't be running around. I accidentally fell asleep and when I woke up, she was gone. Typical," Soul scoffed, "What way was she running?"

"The 3rd floor balcony, I believe," Tsubaki answered.

With a nod of his snowy hair, Soul took off to the balcony that overlooked all of Death City. "_Maybe she just wanted some fresh air. Still...__**running**__ around with a hospital gown..."_

Soul quickly found his way to the overlook and indeed saw the petite girl. She was leaning over the railing, resting her cheek on her palm. Her eyes were in the direction of Death City, but seemed to be looking past all of it. The emerald spheres were dull, showing no usual spark or life. Her position was hunched over, which should have been uncomfortable considering her broken ribs. Since Maka was leaning over, her blue bear panties were revealed through the crack in the hospital gown. "_At least she put on panties," _Soul noted, but was internally a bit sad that she had done so. Blonde hair was knotted, loosely tied in a bun instead of usual pig tails. All in all, she looked a bit like hell-disheveled, pale, and lifeless.

"Eh hem," Soul coughed, trying to get the meister's attention. She showed no sign of having heard him. "Maka," Soul loudly said. Birds twittered nearby, cars could be heard down below, but no voice replied. "Hey, I'm talking to you, Bear Bottom," Soul smiled, striving to make the atmosphere lighter compared to the tension felt in the air; his finger prodded her in the shoulder, just for good measure.

Maka slowly turned towards him, "Oh. I didn't know you were here," she spoke monotonous.

"_What the heck is wrong with her?" _Soul couldn't help but let his emotions surface to his face. Screw trying to act cool and calm in front of her. However, Maka didn't seem to notice his clear concern.

"Shouldn't you be resting? You won't be able to go back to school soon if you don't rest," Soul tried to coax Maka to rest. Surely, once she realized that her education was at risk, she would hop right back in bed, right? Wrong.

"I don't really care about school."

"Yeah, see I wa- HUH?" Soul's gaping mouth might as well been a black hole. In fact, he was waiting for the apocalypse to come, ripping the entire universe apart. People would be screaming in the streets, babies would be crying, buildings exploding-the whole shebang, cause there was no way in **HELL** Maka didn't care about school. Ms. Bookworm, study a month in advance, top of the class, goody two shoes-didn't care about school? What the fuck had happened to his meister?

As Soul stood there, mentally cowering from the breaking of his world, Maka walked past him towards the exit.

"Maka, woah woah woah, wait. What's wrong? This isn't like you at all. You haven't eaten, you say you don't care about school, you just randomly ran off and you're not telling me anything. Talk to me Maka, I'm your partner, your _friend_," Soul would get to the bottom of this and then do everything in his power to fix it.

"I'm **fine.** Nothing is wrong. You're delusional," Maka angrily pushed, "Please step away from me," she added as Soul had blocked her path off of the balcony.

"No, not until you tell me what's wrong," Soul verbally pushed back.

"Why would I _ever_ tell you **_anything_**, when you're just a lying, dirty, stupid, typical man yourself? Huh? You're just like the rest of them," Maka spat at him.

Soul was stunned by her words, "_What is she talking about? What did I do to her? Is she on her period or something?"_ Soul honestly had no idea what Maka was talking about, he felt that her words were unjustified.

Maka took that opportunity to leave the albino, stomping off.

Soul turned around just in time to see her blue bear panties leave his sight, back down the hall.

The solemn weapon deeply sighed, staying on the balcony, staring off into space._ "_Maka...what're you hiding from me?" _  
><em>


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Soul Eater is not in the possession of this author, because if it was she would be extremely rich, and also a genius. Alas, she is none of those things.

Woooaaah guys, one chapter away from double digits! This is a bit insane for me, not gonna lie. I would like to thank Danny and Anonymous for your review/comment on the last chapter, and to Alex for the very helpful constructive criticism! I hope this chapter shows some improvement.

On that note, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. Huuuu -.-" I said I wanted to improve and yet here I am not sure about this chapter XD hahaha. I mean, I do like it, but I don't know if I am portraying the intention and emotions correctly here. I know how I want the scene to be, but I can't tell if I'm articulating it convincingly. What do you guys think? It's hard for me to tell, because I already know what it's supposed to be. I need an outside source! Perhaps I'll end up scrapping this later and rewriting the chapter, but I thought I'd post it first to let you guys see, so please give feedback on this one!

Thank you all to my readers, subscribers, and reviewers! Keep being amazing! 3

And now what you have all been waiting for~

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Maka**

In the following days, Maka stayed in the infirmary, barely eating or sleeping. Soul rarely left her side, though he might as well not have been there. The meister did everything in her power to ignore him-pretending to be asleep, reading, disappearing while he was in the bathroom-you name it. The only interaction between the partners was arguing; there had been no substantial conversation since the fight. Today was just like the past few days, Maka was screaming at Soul for something or another.

"Soul, go **home**! Have you ever thought maybe I _want_ to be alone?" the blonde nearly screamed at the clingy boy for the millionth time.

"For the **umpteenth** time, _Maka_, I told you, I'm not just going to leave you here alone. You haven't been eating much, not unless I force you to. You always wake up screaming at night; I know what that's like and I know that it sucks waking up alone, so **deal with it**, stop being uncool. I'm trying to help!" the weapon's patience was growing thin.

The tension in the room was more taut than Death the Kid in an asymmetrical room, trying to maintain his sanity. Neither of the two were letting up.

"LEAVE ME ALONE," Maka finally shouted in the albino's face. She then bolted from the bed, smacking the door open, leaving a hole in the wall where the doorknob was. She didn't care if she was still in a hospital gown, she didn't care that her underwear was showing. She didn't care that her ribs softly ached in resistance. She **needed** to get away from Soul, now.

"_Every time I'm around him, I feel like my chest is becoming heavier and heavier, sinking me into the soles of my feet. I want to cry, maybe that'll let me stand tall again, but I can't cry in front of him. I can't shed a single tear, not for him, tears shouldn't be wasted on men," _yet despite her words, she could feel tears whelm up. "_Rationally, I know it's so stupid for me to feel this way-it's just one idiotic boy. I know that I should act like everything is fine, that I should be happy that he's found someone he likes, even if it isn't me...even if it is some __**slut **__who works at that club. I should have expected that he'd be like every pig of a man. I shouldn't care. But I __**do**_**,**_and it __**hurts**__ so much. When did I become this weak? When did breathing become this difficult? When did living become this hard?"_

The meister didn't know where she was going, but anywhere was better than staying in that room with her weapon any longer. She ended up in one of her favorite comfort zones-the library. It supplied her with shelves of endless artillery, just in case she had to break some skulls to make a fast getaway again. She holed herself up in a secluded corner, just hugging her knees. It was so quiet; the room was empty. Maka sighed, it felt comfortable to be surrounded by literature, of tales with happy endings and books on courage, bravery.

"_I'll cry. Here and now, just this once. I'll let everything out, then I'll leave this room and leave everything behind me. I won't care anymore, I won't bother Soul anymore. I'll act like everything is normal, and then everything will go back to the way it was, right? I won't feel this much pain anymore, right? I don't think I can handle this much longer... This will be my resolve."_

Maka sat alone in the shadows of the vast library, sobbing to herself. She cried for her weakness, her seemingly childish love, for Soul-the man she thought she knew, but most of all she cried because her entire body felt like lead had been poured into her veins, seething into the cracks of her shattered heart and soul. Even when the blonde thought she was done crying, more tears came and replaced the ones that had just fallen.

"_Since when have I had these many tears? Will it ever stop? I need to stop,"_ Maka scolded herself.

Finally, Maka had wept a river that soaked her cheap polyester gown. She was emotionally exhausted, resting her head on the shelf next to her. The meister drifted off into a disturbed sleep, plagued by the same nightmare that she had every night. She knew she would hear the criticizing song again and cry a thousand more tears. Her sobbing would be awakened by a shrill scream that would escape her pale lips.

Maka was unsurprisingly woken up by the sounds of her own screams echoing off of the walls. The girl was almost becoming accustomed to the nightmare, since it happened every time she tried to sleep. Even though she knew what was to come when she closed her eyes, that didn't stop her from feeling exhausted and depressed when she woke up.

"_It's getting a bit old, I already know everything the dream is telling me..."_ Maka gloomily thought.

Emerald eyes awakened and became aware of the library again; she felt something rough, and warm in her left hand. Maka turned to notice Soul, leaning against a bookshelf, his eyes closed and his hand enclosed around hers. The meister's scream seemed to stir him from his slumber.

Looking at her weapon, Maka remembered her resolve she had made earlier that day. "_I will not let this carry on any further; I must throw away my feelings, even if it kills me. I'll act like everything is fine, remember..."_

Soul locked eyes with Maka. "Hey, you ran off again, _baka_. How are you feeling?" Soul smiled small, trying to cheer her up a bit.

"Yeah...sorry about that, I'm okay now. I feel a bit better," Maka began her thread of lies that would wrap around her life, because she was never going to tell Soul the truth, not anymore and not ever. She finished off her deceit with a fake, stiff smile.

The partners walked back to Maka's room, where she stopped fighting with Soul for the remaining days in the infirmary. The meister forced herself to act cheery and her normal old self, but inside the petite girl was slowly dying. Every time Soul left her side, even if it was for something small such as the bathroom or food, Maka would imagine him meeting up with some girl to make out or do _other_ things. When she saw the albino, Maka thought about his strong arms holding her protectively, or even worse, those arms holding _another girl_ the same way. She thought about Soul leaving her. Even when she lied to her weapon, it hurt Maka that Soul didn't realize she was lying. The insecure girl fell deeper and deeper into the black oblivion of depression. It was consuming her.

Despite becoming more mentally unstable, the blonde physically recuperated enough for her to go back home. Maka insisted that she was **_fine_**, so Professor Stein released her, where she had the weekend to finish up resting, and then school started on Monday. Thus, she was sent back home to live with the man she tried not to love.

"_Everything is fine, Maka, everything is fine. You don't feel the pain, you don't feel the __**pain**__, you're fine..." _Maka chanted this to herself everyday, trying to convince herself that she was okay, though her heart never failed to give an uncomfortable pulse anytime she said this, or anytime Soul was near the meister.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **Soul Eater rests in a parallel world in a far off galaxy, not located in Cyaat's brain.

Wooooooooot~ double digits! Holy smokes. *fireworks, fog machine, smoke alarm...*

I must say...I really want to get this and the next chapter done because I cannot **wait **to write the rest of the story. SO FUCKING EPIC. But! Good things come to those who wait, thus, I will take it one word at a time!

Thank you to Lexi-chan, EddieGirl, Julachan and GreenAppleOtterPop who reviewed/commented on my last chapter, and thank you to all of my readers, reviewers and subscribers as usual! So magnificent.

Annndddddd here, we, go!

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Soul**

Maka appeared to have recovered from the fight; her injuries were almost healed and now she smiled and made small talk, but something was incredibly, utterly **wrong.** Soul's stark snowy hair laid on his bed with heavy music blaring through orange headphones, drowning out the world while he tried to organize his thoughts and observations of Maka from the past two weeks. He had started noticing changes, little by little.

First was Maka's obvious sleeplessness. She had heavy, purple bags under her bloodshot eyes. Soul would hear her hoarse scream every night around the same time, like clockwork. He knew she as being plagued by some unseen terror; he felt helpless when he couldn't comfort his own meister in anyway, powerless that his scythe wasn't enough to protect the woman he loved. No matter what he did to try to comfort her, nothing worked. He tried to get the scared girl to talk about the nightmare, but she claimed she couldn't remember it. "_Well that's bullshit...I know she remembers it, I can see the fear in her eyes..."_

Next was Maka's bagging clothes. If the petite girl wasn't skinny enough, she hadn't been eating much and thus was losing weight. Soul tried to coax her to eat, but she always said, "Later," or "I already ate," or "I'm not hungry." The albino was worried she would soon disappear-turn into dust and merely scatter in the wind. Her skin was becoming sickly pale and dry; her hair no longer healthily shined. It pained Soul to see his meister this way, becoming scared to touch her in fear of cracking her shell.

Then, the bookworm didn't even want to go to school. To _**school. **_Maka's supposed sanctuary, the ultimate battle field where she ruled. When Monday rolled around, Soul had to **drag** the blonde out of bed and to the school grounds. Even then, she just sat in class. She didn't take any notes; when she read she didn't absorb the words, merely stared at them. She started falling asleep in class, and then just skipped altogether. Her grades were starting to slip as result, but the blonde showed no sign of caring.

Soul wanted to confront his partner about everything, ask his love, "for the love of Shinigami what is wrong?", but he was afraid that it would break her, she'd snap. Maka hated to be viewed as weak by anyone, so she rarely asked for help. She assured people that she was alright and could handle herself.

"_If I ask for help for her...who would I talk to? Marie-sensei? Professor Stein? Would she hate me? What if they haul her away to a looney house, I couldn't stand being parted from her..."_

Soul wasn't the only one who noticed Maka's deteriorating behavior. All of their friends had asked Soul what was up with Maka, since whenever they brought it up to her, she nonchalantly shrugged of their questions. Soul simply answered, "She's just going through a rough spot, she'll be fine," then quickly left before more questions could be shot at him.

"_I don't think Maka wants the world to know what's wrong...she won't even tell me, and I thought I was closest to her..."_ the thought made Soul's heart pang in sadness. The weapon wanted nothing more than his partner's trust, but he felt like their relationship was slipping-an hourglass with the sand hurdling down until there would be nothing left.

Soul's heart and mind were becoming weary from endlessly reviewing the same facts over and over. His conclusions led nowhere; no clues hidden in his memories. His mind started to go blank as the sandman poured that hurdling sand into his crimson eyes, when he heard a rustling outside of his door. It sounded like footsteps, and then the front door opening.

"_Is Blair coming back from work? No...her shift isn't over yet," _Soul looked at the clock, 11:34pm,_ "Is Maka leaving?" _Panic blew away the sand; Soul was alert. "_What if Maka is leaving for good? I have to go after her!"_ were his only thoughts as he rushed out of the house in nothing but his pajama bottoms.

Since Maka was on foot, it was fairly easy for Soul to locate her. The albino detective heard fading footsteps, and then saw a glimpse of blonde hair turn around a corner. Soul was just about to run up to Maka and grab her, when he realized, "_I should follow her to see where she is going...maybe it'll give me some clues as to why she's depressed."_

So the weapon stalked his prey, through the night and to the edge of town. They passed in front of Chupa Cabras, where Maka briefly stood across the street, staring sadly and disgustingly at the bright neon sign inviting costumers in. She then continued until she reached the park where the two had fought the kishin. The lonely bench next to the big oak tree welcomed back the familiar lost soul, where she stared into the distant forest. Soul watched from the shadows, behind the tree. She didn't cry or speak, make any movements or anything, just sat there, apparently deep in thought.

"_What is she doing here this late at night?" _He glanced at his phone, 12:12am. "_What is she thinking about, out here alone in the dark? It shouldn't be this way...I should be next to her, holding her hand, protecting her in my arms..."_ He watched her sit there for about 2 hours, when he couldn't take it anymore. He got up and walked over to the meister sitting alone on the shambled bench, he grabbed her shoulder making the lonely girl jump a little bit.

"Maka. You need to tell me what's wrong. I know you're not okay; I'm really worried about you! You hardly sleep or eat, you're losing weight and you don't care about school anymore, Maka I don't know what to do, I want to help you. I couldn't stand losing you, please, Maka just let me help you," the weapon pleaded his love, hoping to somehow reach her.

The girl whipped her head to face Soul's, an angry grimace on her face. "What are you doing here Soul? Did you follow me? You think there's something wrong with me? That's absurd. I was just taking a walk to get some fresh air, _thank you very much_. I have already told you and everybody else that there is **nothing wrong with me**. I can't believe you don't even trust your own meister," her enraged words hit him hard, but only made his anger rise.

"Maka! You're being so uncool! People are just trying to help! Look in the fucking mirror and still tell us you're not okay! You're falling apart, yet you are too stubborn to even admit that. God Maka, what the fuck are you thinking?" but before he could articulate more frustrated messages, Maka burst away, running towards the street lamps and around a corner.

Soul stood there a bit shocked by her seething reply, and also stunned by his own shouting.

"_I need to figure out what's wrong with Maka...I'll save her. I'll cheer her up, before her 18th birthday in a week..."_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **Cyaat's sleeping pattern is too fucked up right now to be remotely considered sane. How is this related to her not owning Soul Eater? She's not sure yet...

Yuuussss! I really liked this chapter, and I hope you enjoy, (or maybe you won't enjoy) it too. I had to reread it around 3 times to edit it it, and every time I got chills down my spine! I was wearing my Soul Eater shirt while writing it, so I felt pretty bamf anyways.

I would like to thank EddieGirl, InTheDeep23 and Lexi-chan for the comment/review.

As always my lovelies, thank you for reading, subscribing and favoriting!

**Caution!** Viewer discretion is advised? Lol, this chapter is pretty heavy, so I'm warning you in advanced.

Let the crying commence.

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Maka**

"_I've been drifting through life...how many days has it been since I've become this weak...? When was the last time I truly smiled? Or felt happiness? What was happiness again?" _Maka sat deep in thought, surrounded by students that were blurred out and the smell of old wooden desks and crushed graphite as the blurs took notes. She hadn't paid attention to class the past 2 weeks. She knew she was falling behind, but she couldn't bring herself to care anymore.

A snigger echoed in her soul, waiting for its chance to consume its prey.

Maka sank deeper into her creaking seat, trying to disappear. "_This is getting old...I'm just so tired. So very tired." _Emerald eyes became shrouded under heavy lids. She laid her head down on her desk and was greeted by the Little Imp that danced in her soul.

"Don't you just _**want**_ to end it all, Maka~" the swaggering demon sneered. "Everything would be so much _**easier**_, no more pain, no more _Soul_..."

A little girl curled around herself looked up at the demon through her ash bangs. In a small voice, "...the pain?" Wide green eyes lit up in hope of relief.

"Ye~s, the pain. Make it all go _**away**_-you would no longer have to feel like the empty shell that you are. You would fill the void that Soul left in your itty bitty pathetic heart." The demon's excitement curled his words.

The little girl thought over the proposition, "I don't know..." her reply was unsure.

Red shoulders shrugged, "Suit yourself. Sit here all by yourself, _**alone**_, empty, weak, _**unloved.**_" He turned to leave.

"Well...I gu-" the young meister started to respond when a loud resonating bell interrupted. Her eyes snapped open and she was back in Stein's classroom-the lesson was over.

"_That again...? I'm starting to believe that maybe it would be easier to kil-, end it all..._" Maka could barely even think it, she sighed.

"...Maka!" Maka spun around at the sound of her name to face Soul, who smiled sadly at her. "You get some sleep?"

"Yeah...I s'pose," was all Maka could manage. "_Stop looking at me...smiling at me, it makes me feel like everything is going to be okay...when it's not."_

When the partners got home after school, Soul offered to make her a grilled cheese. She politely refused, "I'm not hungry, thanks," and was about to close herself in her room when she heard a soft reply from the kitchen. "You need to eat..."

The blonde ignored it and shut her bedroom door; barricading herself.

That night, Maka couldn't sleep. "_I'm so tired...but I'm too afraid to sleep. That song haunts me when I'm awake, and is my reality when I'm asleep. I don't want to face dream Soul anymore...or just Soul for that matter."_

"_Maybe...I just should...it'd be easy to..." _Maka swished the air around her head with her hand, as if she was swatting away invisible bugs that filled her mind with unpleasant thoughts.

To keep herself from falling asleep, the meister decided to slip out of the house and walk alone in the dark. "_At least outside, I don't have to be near __**him.**__ Just being in the same house makes me feel suffocated. The night air might clear my head," _So Maka left her room, creeped towards the front door and quietly left.

She walked through the desolate streets, already knowing where she was heading. The blonde past Chupa Cabras, where she stood shortly and stared at the building. "_All those horrible men in there, cheating on their girlfriends, wives,...partners. Hurting the people around them. Why do you hurt them, don't you care? Why did you hurt me? Why does it hurt..."_

Maka concluded her internal rant and continued ambling until she reached the park. She sat on the worn bench and stared off into the distant horizon of scraggly trees and dense canopy.

"_The still night air is so calming...the black darkness surrounding me is comforting. In the dark, there's no pain or hurt, because there is nothing, right? Would it be better if I just...embraced the darkness?"_

The Imp bit his fingers in delight-anxiously anticipating her answer.

Maka sat there, like a hurt puppy kicked down-deciding whether it was better to stand back up and be kicked again, or to just stay down.

A firm hand gripped her shoulder, Maka jumped at the surprised contact. "Maka," a familiar voice spoke, a voice that cut through her already cleaved heart.

The meister's voice caught in her throat before she composed herself. She didn't even hear what Soul was saying; she only saw his lips moving and his expression ever changing. Maka just started screaming; She didn't know what she screamed at him before running off, leaving the weapon standing in the dark.

"_I need to get away! Far away! I need to stop hurting! Anything! I can't take it anymore; he must be so upset and hate me for what I just did, for just existing. He was the only thing keeping me sane and now he's left me for some-," _Maka began to hyperventilate as she ran, so she ducked into an alley to try to catch her breath.

"_Breathe...breathe! I need to breathe. Why do I need to breathe? Why do I need to live? It all hurts."_

Maka slowly made her way back to the apartment, with her final resolve in mind. She walked in the door; Soul was waiting on the couch. "Maka we need to ta-" but the meister walked past her weapon, and slammed her bedroom door, separating body and mind.

A soft knock rapped on the door, "Maka...I'm here for you, just know that, I won't judge you, I'll just listen. I'm sorry for yelling." Soul's voice weaved with worry and sadness. Footsteps left Maka's door, towards the opposite end of the hall.

The defeated girl sank to her floor, leaning her back against the soft bed, her final resolve in mind. In the morning, Soul called her to get ready for school; "I'm tired, so I'm going to stay home and sleep."

"Fine. Call if you need anything,"

Then she was left alone, in her room, in her apartment, in her heart and soul. Maka went into the bathroom, searching for a vaguely familiar piece of metal. She grabbed a razor blade. It felt heavy and unforgivably cold in her trembling fingers. Unlike Soul's metal form, which breathed life and security-warmth and comfort, this blade was menacing and uncaring. Maka sat on the linoleum floor, her pajama shorts revealing her long, slender legs.

"_This is my resolve, this is my resolve,"_ the wavering girl kept repeating.

She slowly lowered the sharp edge of the blade down to her soft skin on her thigh. Even though the metal was icy in her fingers, it seared her thigh with heat. Maka cut her pain away-transferring the emotional pain into a physical manifestation.

The red liquid of life dripped down her pale skin, forming circular drops on the white floor; a stark contrast.

Maka shakily drew in a breath, "_I'll get rid of my pain this way,"_

She drew more slits on her thighs, sighing when she felt like her heart's burden was slightly lightened.

"_It's much easier to deal with the pain this way..."_

With each pressing cut, the old ones started to scab slowly, a tinge of black around the edges.

Maka kept cutting deeper and longer, harder-pushing the boundaries, trying to see how much it would take for her pain to go away. Cutting kept the distressed girl's thoughts away from more painful things, focusing her attention on the trickling blood. Little Imp giggled incessantly, taunting and urging Maka to cut deeper, wider.

"More, more, more!" he encouraged.

When Maka was satisfied, she sat against the bathroom door-silent tears mixing with drops of blood on the bitter floor.

She sat there blankly until she heard the front door open; The meister heard his deep melodic voice call, "Maka, I'm home. You awake?" Soul was back from school.

The shaken blonde replied through the door, "I woke up a bit ago Soul, I was just about to take a shower." She looked down at the dried dark reddish black blood on her legs. "_I remember my resolve..."_

"So you got some sleep? Good," a smile could be heard in the corners of his response. "You want something to eat?"

Maka continued to stare down, "Sure, anything will do." "_Resolve." _

Maka washed her entire body-scrubbing until the skin was a bit raw and sensitive, scrubbing her sorrows away. Maka cleansed her legs, wincing a bit as her loofa scraped against the sliced skin; the only trace left were thinly inflamed black cuts. She turned off the water and stepped into the steamed room, dressing. She pulled her shorts so that they covered up the cuts. "_If Soul saw this, would he care? Would he notice at all, say anything? What would I tell him if he confronted me...?"_

Maka looked at herself in the mirror. "_When did I get these heavy bags?" _She lightly touched the puffy purple under her eyes, she shrugged it off. A forced smile tense on her face, Maka walked out of the bathroom and sat at the kitchen table. Soul placed some chicken tenders and ketchup in front of her, "Thanks." The blonde picked at the food, a bit nauseated by it, but eating a little. Soul sat down across of her. Maka automatically interacted with the albino, talking about his day, classes, friends and the such-but she wasn't really engaged, just running on autopilot.

"_Everything is normal, everything is fine, I'm fine..."_ Maka found herself repeating this mantra constantly, as if saying it over and over would make it come true.

"Maka."

The girl looked up at the sound of her name, her heart beat erratic. "_Stop that..." _she reprimanded herself.

"Lord Death gave us a mission, starting tomorrow morning. Are you up for it...?" The weapon looked concern, hoping for a certain answer but...

"If Shinigami-Sama asked us, then it's my duty as a meister and you as my weapon to comply." "_Maybe a mission will keep me focused, perhaps saving the world one evil soul at a time will take my mind of things..."_

Maka was too busy thinking about whether the mission would be beneficial to her sanity, so she didn't catch Soul saying under his breath, "I was afraid you'd say that..."

"_This will be good for me, right?" _The meister wasn't terribly convinced.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **No matter how many fantasies Cyaat has about owning Soul Eater, they will never come true ): Reality sucks.

Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days! It's been hectic -.-" *sigh*

I leave in 15 days for college :O Scarwey. But at least this is a longer chapter, that makes up for it? Right? :D

I would like to comment on Maka's OOC-ness. It does bother me a bit, but there is a reason. Just like there is a reason for everything I write :3 All shall be revealed in due time.

Thank you to RavenAK, DemonScytheSoul and natabee for the reviews! Reviews make me so happy and really help the writing process, so thanks! ^.^ Thanks everyone for reading!

I think I was going to write more, but now I can't remember, so, I'll just shut up and let you read the chapter.

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Soul**

"_This mission has __**perfect**__ timing,"_ crimson eyes sarcastically rolled. "_Right when I make plans to take Maka out to dinner and then take her to her favorite book store...this happens. And she just seemed to be coming around recently. Though, fighting always has snapped her out of her funks..."_

Soul sat mindlessly on the plane, staring lazily at the back of the seat in front of him. He had already flipped through the crappy magazines provided by the generic airline, so he listened to his iPod with one ear bud in. Too bad it was a long flight and boredom soon had set in...

Maka naturally sat next to him, breathing quietly with her eyes veiled by ash bangs, her head lolled onto the weapon's shoulder. "_At least she's getting some sleep."_

Ruby orbs scanned the plane. Black*Star was retelling some of his 'infamous' duels in which he surpassed God to Tsubaki, who smiled and nodded at the story she knew by heart. Death the Kidd was playing some card game with Liz and Patty, arguing about how even though the design on the cards was symmetrical, it was an abomination that he didn't have 8 cards in his hand.

The team was flying to England where a high level kishin, Sutcliffe Dissector, was wreaking havoc. Their mission was to go and destroy it-simple. What Soul didn't understand was why the entire team went; normally him and Maka could handle a mission like this on their own. "_eh...whatever, guess Shinigami just didn't want people alone,"_ Soul shrugged off his uneasiness.

He looked down at his peacefully sleeping meister. Her long eye lashes brushed against her cheeks, how soft and alluring they looked. Her mouth was in a relaxed, partially open position, giving Soul some deviant thoughts. She even had a little bit of drool dribbling from her mouth- how uncool. But despite her uncool features, Soul loved her for who she was. He admired and respected her above all else.

"_I just want to...cradle her in my arms, make the demons go away, like she did for me. Next week is her birthday...she'll be 18. I wonder if, then would be a good time to..."_

Soul's thoughts were interrupted as Maka uneasily shifted in her sleep, her face scrunching in some sort of displeasure. The plaid skirt she wore dangerously rose up her thigh...

"Really, Maka," Soul cringed into the air, taking notice of her exposed skin. "If I get a nose bleed and she wakes up, I'll be Maka-Chopped into Shinigami's hands for sure," he sighed. However, his eyes kept darting downwards towards her long, appealing legs.

Soul's face must have been as red as his eyes as he was eye-fondling the sleeping girl. The weapon's breath caught when he noticed something on the fringe of her skirt. It looked like some sort of black line. "_Pen marks...? No...those marks arn't flat, they're raised...some sort of...cut? Why would it be black?"_ Soul was about to pull up the skirt a bit higher to get a better look, his hand reaching for her skirt and...

"Soul? What're you doing?" the now awake meister accused.

"I-I was just reaching for this magazine," he grabbed one from the pocket in front of Maka. "You've got drool on your cheek, by the way," a smirk spread across his pointy teeth when he saw her blush and hurriedly wipe her mouth on her sleeve.

"How long was I asleep? When're we going to get there?"

"Roughly 5 hours Sleeping Beauty. We have a couple of hours before touchdown."

Maka rubbed her eyes and unbuckled, stretching her legs. Her skirt fell back into place, hiding the marks that Soul tried to inspect earlier. She walked down to the other team members to chat for a bit, before returning to her seat next to Soul. She promptly pulled out a book that was worn from reading and beating noggins.

"_I guess now would be a good time as ever..."_ Soul reached into his bag and pulled out a square package, wrapped in brown paper.

"Here," he placed it in Maka's lap. She looked at him confused.

"I was going to take you to a bookstore so you could pick out your own book, you know for a recovery gift and the plane ride or whatever, but there wasn't time so I just picked something," Soul half mumbled out, a bit embarrassed. Maka blushed, which pleased the awkward scythe.

"Oh, thanks Soul. You didn't have to do that," Maka smiled widely and tore off the paper.

It was a new book written by her favorite author, she didn't even know it was out yet. Delight spread further across her face.

"_Good, she likes it," "_You can thank me by making me dinner when we get back, bookworm," Soul teased.

"Maka Chop!" The meister not to gently poked back. "Thanks...Soul," she said with a hint of sadness lacing the corners of her reply.

"_Did I say something wrong?" _"Oh, Maka, there's something I noticed that I wanted to ask you about."

The blonde responded by looking up from her present to meet his stern eyes.

"While you were sleeping I saw something on your le-"

"Soul, Maka, let's discuss our strategy for bringing down Sutcliffe Dissector," Death the Kidd interjected.

Maka put her new book in her bag and followed Kidd to the rest of their friends. Soul sighed as he followed, "_Why am I __**always**__ interrupted...how uncool,"_

Soul placed his luggage on the stiff bed, decorated with a tacky floral comforter. Maka was looking around their hotel room on the outskirts of London, where they would be staying until the kishin was destroyed.

The room had a musty smell with peeling paisley wallpaper; a thin film of dust lined the room. There was one, full sized bed in the center of the room, with the stiff comforter sprawled over it, adorned by once white pillows. A small TV sat on the aching wooden bureau in front of the bed, against the wall. The bathroom was to the left, and the front door was to the right. The bathroom had water stains on the ceiling and was cramped with the lion footed bath tub, toilet, and standing sink. A dull mirror hung on the wall.

"Sometimes I wonder why Lord Death is so damn cheap...this place sucks," Soul concluded.

"Well, DWMA has to pay for all the rooms, of all the students, for every mission. It must cost a lot of money, so Lord Death has to get the cheap rooms. It's not SO bad," Maka logically replied.

"Yeah, but we risk out **lives** for innocent people and to save the world and all that jazz, the least we could get are pillow chocolates!" Soul argued.

"Pillow chocolates?" The meister snickered. Soul laughed in return.

"Yeah well, pillow chocolates rot your teeth," Maka pointed out, "Anyways, we might as well sleep to rest up for tomorrow evening. We're going to be searching for the kishin and hopefully destroying it," Soul followed Maka's lead, preparing for bed.

"_Stay cool, you've spent the night with Maka in the same bed before, no biggie. It just has been...quite a while..."_ but despite the weapon's efforts to stay calm, his heart disagreed.

Soul changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth, while Maka was going to take a shower. The anxious boy climbed into the creaking bed and laid on his side, facing the door, while Maka came out from her shower, dressed and got ready for bed. She scooted in next to him. "Night Soul," she mumbled.

"M'night."

She smelt like cheap hotel shampoo and bar soap but it was Maka's smell- her _essence_- that drove him mad. Her scent wafted over the hormonal boy, filling his nostrils and tingling his senses.

"_She's so close, I just want to...hold her,"_ Even as Soul said that, perverted images came into his mind. "_Seriously, I need to stop this before I lose my sanity..."_

The weapon laid there unable to sleep, feeling worried by his sleeping meister's thrashing and the fight tomorrow. Maka's emanating heat drowning Soul didn't help either...

Like every night around this time, Maka started screaming, tears rolling down her cheeks, she sobbed, gasping for air.

Soul already knew what he was going to do, without even really thinking about it. The weapon turned to his love and wrapped his arms around her. He held her tight, pressing her thin frame against his body, waiting for her nightmare to end. She continued to cry and cry, scaring Soul, but all he could do was be there for her, holding her. Finally the shrieks and sobs subsided, "S-Soul...?" a soft whimper came from her lips.

"It's okay Maka, s'just a bad dream, I'm here, see? I'll protect you," Soul tried to comfort the shaken girl.

Her body seemed to seize as she was gripped by thick sobs, "W-why did you l-leave me, Soul? I-I- I can't lose you too, I've lost so much, y-you're all I have left. Why d-did you abandon me?"

Soul's heart clenched in pain, "Maka, I haven't left you. I'm right here, I won't ever leave you." Despite being confused by her words, he could clearly see that Maka thought he was actually gone. "_Is she still dreaming?"_

"I know I'm not g-good enough, but I l-lo-lov," but Maka couldn't finish her sentence as she violently cried in Soul's arms. She shortly fell back asleep, exhausted from shedding so many tears.

Soul looked down at his now sleeping love. "We fit perfectly together," he spoke to her unconsciousness. "I could never leave you Maka, I need you too much," he gently kissed her hair, and rested his cheek on her head. "I love you too much..." he muffled before promptly falling asleep.

The still sleeping sun woke the albino up before the alarm did. His body was intertwined with Maka's, he almost couldn't tell where one body started and the other ended. "_If only I could just stay like this with her..."_ he slowly retreated to his side of the bed, attempting not to disturb the girl. "_If she saw me cuddling her, she'd think I was some perv and she'd use her new artillery to put another dent in my head. Maybe I shouldn't have given her new ammo..." _

20 minutes later the alarm buzzed, stirring the blonde. The pair showered and got ready for the mission separately. Just before the partners left, Soul tentatively asked, "Are you alright? Last night..."

"**Fine**, Soul. Just bad dreams, remember?" annoyance edged Maka's voice.

"_I guess she doesn't remember..." _Soul sadly concluded; he hoped that maybe last night would have opened up their relationship a bit. The duo left their room and went to meet up with the rest of their team at a cafe next to the hotel.

"Remember our plan," Kidd stated authoritatively, "We'll split into our groups and encompass the area where the kishin was last seen. Maka, you use your Soul Perception to pinpoint the location. Then, relay us the information through the headsets that I've brought. We'll then enclose the kishin and corner him, leaving no room for him to escape. We'll attack **together**, no one goes in there alone. Resonating may be our only key to winning. This kishin is known to be absolutely ruthless, asymmetrically dissecting his victims, despicable trash."

"Just leave it to a big guy like me! Hyahahaha! I'll kill this kishin bastard!" Black*Star shouted. Patty giggled along, kicking her legs that were dangling on the edge of her seat.

"I have a hair appointment so let's just finish this quickly," Liz sighed while examining her nails. Tsubaki merely smiled.

"Right!" Maka declared.

The groups left the cafe after a late lunch and headed to their established locations, keeping in communication through the headsets that the meisters wore in their ears.

Finding the kishin was easier than anyone thought, they didn't even need Maka's Soul Perception. There was a trail of disemboweled and limbless bodies down an alleyway that Tsubaki noticed; she then relayed the information to the rest of the team. Maka was closest to where the trail was heading, so she followed the blood straight to the feasting kishin.

"Maka, we should wait until the others arrive, don't just dive in alone," Soul's face reflected on his blade.

"I can handle him until the others get here, we can't let him get away," Maka sternly replied. Her attention then turned to the monster in front of her.

"Kishin Sutcliffe Dissector, you have been collecting innocent human souls. As a student of DWMA, I'll eliminate you. Your soul is mine!" Maka screamed, rushing towards the beast.

"_I have a bad feeling about this..."_ the scythe worried, while being swung towards the kishin's rotting flesh.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** Cyaat doesn't own Soul Eater because she is not a Japanese man...

Soooo I remember what I was going to write last time-the thing I had forgotten!

I was going to say sorry I haven't been updating as frequently! Aiyyaaaa -.-; _Please don't kill me, please don't kill me! _lol

I've been busy preparing for college, hanging out with friends, the like. Though, I have been writing the story! It just needs to be typed, hahaha...

In conclusion, I'm going to try to update more often! Funny thing... I was going to post this last night, but I fell asleep while typing it. My bad.

In other news, I'm SO CLOSE TO BEATING KINGDOM HEARTS I COULD TASTE IT. YUM YUM YUMMY.

+10 points for Gryffindor! To Lexi-chan who caught my Kuroshitsuji reference in the last chapter, bahahha. Though, at first it wasn't intentional. I noticed it when I was revising, then realized how truly geeky I am. 3

Alsooo~ for at least the next couple of chapters-it's looking like Soul's will be pretty long and Maka's will be comparatively short. I think. We'll see how that turns out, lol.

**Thank you to everyone who reads, subscribes, favorites, reviews~** For the reviews on the last chapter, DemonScytheSoul, Lexi-chan, smilesassy, RavenAK, cloudy rains, and kishinhunter78!

You guys literally put smiles on my face everyday and I just hope that you, and so many other people, enjoy my story. I would just like to say that it's really nice hearing from people what they liked about my story, what they didn't like, why they're excited about or whatever. It makes me feel closer to my readers and gives me so much motivation and encouragement :) Love you all!

SO! Without further ado!

**-Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Maka**

The scythe meister heavily puffed out, frustrated, "This is not working!"

Maka had engaged the kishin without the rest of the team, and the fight was getting out of hand. "_I guess this is why the entire team was sent...I should have waited. I screwed up," _the blonde berated herself.

After countless slashes, blows and hits to the kishin, Sutcliffe Dissector was unfazed. The kishin stood 15ft tall, with long, unevenly cut red hair. The kishin was somewhat muscular- quick on his feet. His eyes matched the color of the blood from his victims; his body was rotting with chunks of skin schlepping off, as if he had leprosy or some sort of disease. However, he revived his body by drinking the blood of innocent humans, and he had plenty of dead bodies around him courtesy of his interrupted feast. He carried a large, broad, butcher knife that he used to chop up his meals; it was stained rust red.

Since Maka had intervened the kishin's eating time and there was an endless supply of fresh blood at his disposal, Sutcliffe constantly rejuvenated from the meister's attacks. That foot long gash in his abdomen Maka just sliced was nothing- in fact, one slurp of blood and it just disappeared.

"Gah, I told you we should have waited for the others!" Soul winced as the monster's weapon scraped against his blade.

"_I need to get him away from these bodies, he'll just continue to revive himself. I don't have much space to move in this alleyway...but I can't bring him closer to innocent people. Agh, I screwed up," _Maka logically and sadly thought. "_But I'll just have to hold him off until Kid and Black*Star get here...what's taking them so long?" _

"Maka! Your left!" Soul warned his meister as her thoughts left her distracted, and wide open.

Sutcliffe roared and swung at the blonde, cutting a long slash on her left side, right near her ribcage. Maka hissed in pain as she leapt up to dodge further attacks. She kicked off a brick wall in the narrow space, propelling herself upwards where she hit the opposite brick wall. She continued to hop up, bounding from one wall to the other until she reached the roof top.

"_I'll attack from above, and hit his shoulder, hopefully incapacitating his swings..."_ Maka tried to strategize.

The dexterous girl jumped up and flipped, causing her skirt to hike up; the dark cuts on her thighs exposed. Maka didn't even think about it, but Soul noticed.

"Maka, what's on your legs? Are those...cuts? When did you get hit like that?" Soul sounded alarmed and confused.

His accusation startled Maka and caused her to falter. Soul's blade missed the monster's shoulder and instead lodged into the ground.

"W-what're you talking about? Soul! You messed up the attack!" Maka screamed, pulling Soul out and sidestepping away from Sutcliffe.

The madman began to incessantly giggle, his high-pitched voice reverberating in the enclosed area.

"You think it's funny I missed? I won't miss you next time, Monster, and I'll slice you in half!" Maka angrily declared.

"Hehehehehehe, no that is not why I'm laughing. Though, you are quite fun to toy around with," bloody teeth showed through a cracking grin.

"Then what's so funny, creep?" Soul voiced.

"I'd recognize different types of ssslices anywhere. Young meister, feelin' a bit _sad_? Want to **end** it all? Hehheheeehee," Sutcliffe snickered.

"What!-no, no, I-" Maka tried to defend, but the Red Demon was cackling madly deep within her heart.

"Ooooh, doesn't that sound _nice_, Blondie? All you have to do is _pause_ for a small, itsy, second while battling and that monster will **end **it for you. It'll all look like some _poor,_ unfortunate accident." Razor teeth waited to devour Maka's dimming soul.

Maka stood there silently, Soul unaware of what was happening in his meister's mind.

"Maka, come on! Don't just stand there, he's wrong, right? You're definitely not a weak enough person for something like that. Let's get this piece of shit!" Soul attempted to stir the girl. It was ineffective, his words fell upon deaf ears.

"Maka!" The albino called out.

"Shut up Soul! You don't understand anything!" Emerald eyes dulled, the fire that once blazed the forest was beginning to wither and extinguish. "_I should be stronger than this...if love makes me this weak, I don't want to feel it anymore. Not that Soul would ever chose me anyways...I'm just some useless, unattractive, pitiful girl...I can't even get my emotions straight,"_

"Maka, I **told** you not to engage the kishin before we got here!" An angry Kidd arrived on the rooftop, not too happy by the scene below him. Dead bodies skewed unsymmetrically on the ground, a kishin clearly not damaged by the scythe meister, and Maka standing there looking distressed with her scythe bent, yelling at her.

"Tried to be a big guy like me but failed, huh? Hyahahaha of course you did. S'alright though Maka, I'm here now to show you how it's done! Watch me surpass God! YAHOO!" Black*Star hollered from the roof, next to Kidd.

"Uh...I-" Maka blanked, looking up, not knowing how to respond. "_They can't know about my weakness...they can't know that I'm completely useless. What am I doing? Why did I even accept this mission if all I'm doing is screwing it up and jeopardizing it?"_

Sutcliffe Dissector didn't wait for the team to organize themselves. The monster charged at the inanimate blonde, swinging his large butcher knife, intending to chop her up into little sashimi. Black*Star surged down from his height, moving Tsubaki so she met the kishin's blade in front of the scythe meister.

"That's pretty dirty, attacking a confused opponent, but you'll be no match for me," Black*Star growled out with a grin. He then turned to the girl standing next to him, "Maka, snap the fuck out of it! What are you doing!"

Kidd jumped down next to Maka, "Are you alright?" the young Death God inquired.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine, sorry for starting ahead. Let's just finish this..."

Kidd and Black*Star charged forth, strategically attacking together, trying to immobilize Sutcliffe. Maka was about to join in again, having gathered enough senses, when Soul spoke up.

"The kishin...he wasn't right, was he? Have you really been cutting yourself?" the scythe's voice was grave, he spoke just loud enough so only his meister could hear it. His face reflected in the blade was agonized.

"N-no, of course not. I'm not that weak! I'm fine!" Maka's trembling voice and shifting eyes answered, indicating her lie.

"Maka, we need to talk about this. This is really serious, and I've been really worried about you lately..."

"Maka! Soul! We **could** use your help over here!" Kidd shouted. The Death God and demon weapon meister were pushed back against the walls by the kishin. Even though Sutcliffe was just toying with them, he was an incredibly tough opponent. Not only was he agile and dexterous for his size, he was immensely strong with powerful swings. His rejuvenation power didn't help either.

"Fun! Fun! Fun! I want to cut! Cut! Cut!" the madman screamed in joy. His demeanor and actions immediately changed. The kishin no longer was playing; he wanted his tasty meal of 3 young meisters and their weapons.

Maka joined Black*Star and Kidd at the entrance of the alleyway, regrouping together to form a plan.

"That thing is creepy!" Liz cried from her position in Kidd's left hand.

"You can take him, Sis! Hahaha," her little sister's undying faith spoke.

"Nothing we do seems to be affecting him..." Tsubaki noted.

"I'm going to surpass God, I'll **make** him feel my wrath!" the blunette blurted.

"_How are we going to defeat this kishin if all he does is revive himself later? He's quick on his feet to begin with, so landing blows is already difficult..."_ Maka attempted to concentrate on the fight.

"I think we should use Soul Resonance. The target is no longer playing, so neither will we. Maka?" Kidd added.

"Right" the blonde automatically responded.

"_Ugh, snap out of it Maka! You're in the middle of a fight! If you don't pay attention Soul could get hurt! Or the others could, or you could die!" _

At the thought of death, the patiently waiting Imp bit his fingers in delight.

"Follow me lead and listen to my song," Soul announced to the group.

The teens closed their eyes and extended their souls to one another. "Group Resonance!" they said in unison.

Soul's eerie song filled their ears and souls, syncing their movements. Soul and Maka's bond became unbelievably close with the strong resonance, that nothing could be hidden, not even one's thoughts. As soon as the resonance started, Soul knew Maka was hiding something deep, deep inside her soul. Thick, menacing walls surrounded her once open and flowing soul. Black, oozing blood seeped like the vast sea in front of the barricades.

"_Stay away Soul!"_ Maka internally, forcefully pushed her weapon out. The resonance in the group faltered.

"Soul, Maka, concentrate!" Kidd screamed. Soul grunted in frustration.

The fight was in full motion. Black*Star would feint attack, while Kidd fired from behind. With the kishin turning to stop Kidd, Black*Star then would come back in and use Soul Drive. Finally, Maka swung Soul after the kishin was temporarily paralyzed by Black*Star's wavelength. The meisters took turns attacking, matching the rhythm of the fight to Soul's song.

Even though Sutcliffe was slowing down, he was no where near being finished. He used his large butcher knife to reflect Kidd's bullets, so that they hit Maka. He used Maka's large attacks to repel her force back, throwing her into Black*Star. When Black*Star feigned, the kishin would swipe his large hands, knocking him into Kidd. Ultimately, the battle was going nowhere. When the kishin refreshed himself with blood, the academy students would still be tired.

"We need a higher resonance rate!" Maka shouted. "_Though, I think a higher resonance is going to be worse for me...Soul might see too much in my soul, and also the black blood... but, we need to end this fight quickly before the others get hurt." _

Soul responded by increasing the intensity of his playing; the piano clanged loudly and creaked under protest. The team knew that they had a time limit-it was now or never.

However, Maka's predictions were right. Black blood rushed through her veins, endless thoughts filling her mind. "_Worthless. Pathetic. Ugly. Abandoned. Alone. Unloved. Not good enough. __**Die.**__" _

Endless taunts flooded her ears, drowning out all other sounds. Images of Soul with other girls flashed behind her eyes, nosebleeds dripping down blushed cheeks from Blair, of him coming out of Chupa Cabras smugly...he was going to hurt her and leave her just like her Papa and Mama. She was tired of being alone, of being hurt, of being unloved.

"**AHHHHHH! AH! AH! AHHH!"** Maka's voice broke out, screaming in mental pain, loud and hoarse; it was surreal. She fell to her knees, gripping her head; she dropped Soul with a clang against the ground.

"Maka!" Soul transformed, breaking the resonance.

Black blood began oozing from the gash on her left side, wetting her cloak. The self-inflicted wounds on her thighs opened, leaving small streams of black, contrasting against pale skin.

"MAKE IT STOP! SHUT UP! SHUT. UP!" the meister screamed in psychological agony. _"I can't take it anymore! It __**hurts!**__ It __**HURTS**__!" _Maka internally sobbed.

The Red Imp appeared, swaggering into her soul. "I can make the pain go away, away, _away_! Just follow me and I'll make everything go **numb**." He snickered. The predator was dancing around his prey.

The girl automatically nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks; she mindlessly walked forward. On the surface, Maka stopped screaming and went limp in Soul's arms. Her breathing shallow, and slowed, her heartbeat fading. Kidd continued firing at the kishin, trying to hold him back.

"Soul! What happened to Maka? Is she alright?"

"I don't know! She just collapsed, she's barely breathing. There's no physical wound that would cause this, I think something is seriously wrong!" the scythe gushed out, trying and failing to stay calm. "When we were resonating, I felt like something was wrong, and she's drenched in black blood, what if she was taken by madness? What if I caused this to Maka? What if-?"

"Soul, stop being uncool and rambling like an idiot, go after her already. Bring that ditcher back to us." The loud mouth intervened with a quick smile to his best friend.

Soul looked down at the love of his life. He pressed his lips against her pale, cool forehead. "I'm coming for you, Maka. Just hold on." Soul plunged his soul into Maka's heart, determined to bring her back.

Maka was surrounded by darkness, the black blood infecting her, slowly consuming her. She sat in the fetal position, barricaded by countless walls, keeping out any trespassers. The Red Demon boogied around her chaotically, laughing at the imminent meister's demise. He sang a horrible jingle out of tune, swaggering,

"Swing, swing, swing,

I'll see you suffer yet, **Soul,**

I've got your pretty little meister captured, _Soul_,

I'll destroy her, and devour her whole,

You're soul will turn dark as charcoal,

and then I'll get to eat your soul, **Soul**,"


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I do not own- wait...I'm no longer typing in 3rd person. What? Ah, alright then, that's a bit awkward. On with the show then? I do not own Soul Eater...that feels weird to type.

AHhhhHhhhhhh I leave in one day for college! And I haven't finished packing! Or cleaning! SO SCREWED. But I really wanted to get this chapter out 3 You guys have been so fantastic; patiently waiting! The next time I update will be from my new dorm room! Ahhhhh that's a scary thought! Speaking of update, it might be at least a week until the next chapter. Or maybe not! We'll see. Allons-y.

On the up side, I beat Kingdom Hearts :3 SO GOOD.

Thanks Smilesassy1123, Sally White, CrystalzAnimeTurtle, IMAxENGIMAx, cloudy rains, DemonScytheSoul, LittleMissFirebug23, DanniwasHere, kishinhunter78 and RavenAK for the reviews on the last chapter!

This list keeps getting longer and it gives me so much happiness to see so many people enjoying my story :) I hope this one meets your expectations. Let me know what you thought of it :3

Oh, btw, I have a new YouTube channel where I discuss anime, manga, video games and other nerdtastic topics. If you want to check that out, there is a link in my profile! In the about me section. Anywho,

SHA-BAM!

-**Birthday Bash Indeed**

**Soul **

"_Fuck. Where am I? I can't see a thing...it's all, black,"_ Soul thought as he groped in the dark environment. "_Maka's soul was never like this...it used to be so, flowing and open. Warm, embracing, safe...home." _

Soul grimly thought that this was his fault, for not being a better partner and more supportive. "_I should have done everything I could have to make Maka happier...something must have really set her off. Why wouldn't she tell me? Did __**I**__ do something wrong?" _

The scythe continued to wander around, seeing nothing and wallowing in his uselessness, when he heard the sound of waves crashing softly in the distance, such a melancholy sound. An image of a lost little girl flooded his mind, the girl was blurred, but he could discern her sitting on the beach, drawing mindlessly in the sand with a stick. The waves echoed her emotions, sorrow, loneliness, hopelessness, unloved...for who could love such waves that crashed with fury and devastating power? He turned towards the source of the sound and began to run; Soul believed he would find the girl he imagined there. He wanted so desperately to comfort her. He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he finally arrived at a pale grey, sandy shore. Before him stretched a dark sea, willowing with the sighs and heaves of his breath. Soul frantically searched the beach, looking for the girl, but he couldn't find anyone. Not even a half-washed away trace of past footsteps, or faded drawings in the sand appeared. It was deserted.

"_I-I thought that little girl would be here...did I just imagine all of that in the darkness? I seriously must be loosing my mind. I've got to find Maka! I don't have much time." _

"Maka!" Soul's voice was whipped into the air by the wind. His voice rang out across the sea, up and down the shore, calling for his meister, but no reply was heard.

In the distance, the boy saw something breaking the waves, some sort of bridge or walkway. Soul ran over to the structure, to discover that it was a walkway that cut through the sea, into the distance. Red eyes scrutinized the path; he couldn't tell how far it went on, but he knew that something was drawing him towards the other end.

"_It's not like I've got much of a choice or another lead. Maka...just please be at the other end," _Soul took off down the cement way.

His feet dully pounded against the cement, in rhythm with the crash of the waves against the walls. His heavy breath heaved in and out in tempo, his whole body seemed to synchronize with the world, creating a song of life. His desperation to find his love played melodies in his mind, pulling the piece together. He shut his eyes temporarily, as if to envision the notes of his song dancing across the darkness. He sighed, letting the scene before him flood his vision once more.

After a bit of running, he came across a little girl sitting on a bench, staring at her feet which were kicking in the air. She looked eerily similar to the little girl he imagined, or perhaps she just looked familiar...

"Oi, what are you doing sitting here alone? We're in the middle of an ocean, it's dangerous."

"Ocean? What are you talking about, Mister? This is a park."

"Wha-"

But the albino finally took in his surroundings. Indeed, it was a grassy park, completed with a play structure, a bike path, a small fountain and some trees. He was sitting on a dilapidated bench, next to him was the small figure. He also got a good observation of the girl. She looked about 7, with blonde hair in tiny pigtails, and she was wearing pink overalls with a white undershirt. What he struck him most was her intense emerald eyes, as deep as an endless forest. She sighed and continued to look down at her swinging feet, seemingly deep in thought. Her expression seemed sad, or maybe worried?

"_She looks __**so**__ familiar...damnit why can't I think of a name? I wonder if she's alright? Wait, wasn't I-I was looking for somebo-" _Soul lost his train of thought, and directed his attention towards the girl next to him.

"What are you doing here by yourself? Don't you have a Mom or Dad?"

"Mmm..yeah, I do." Her reply seemed to have sadness beyond her 7 years of age.

"Why are you here by yourself then?"

"You ask a lot of questions for a stranger, cause you know it's really none of your business," the girl curtly replied, her attitude reminiscent of a certain meister he knew.

"Yeah...it really isn't my business, is it?" Soul seemed to realize his forwardness with a chuckle. "But, you're a little girl here by yourself, and you're all sad, so I had to do something. A cool guy like me doesn't leave depressed kids on benches alone."

The girl smiled small and thought over his reply. She shrugged in the end, and twiddled her fingers together.

"So, why are you alone?" Soul asked again.

"Mama has gone away on a trip, and stupid Papa is off with a bunch of ladies," the girl angrily spat out the last part of her answer.

"That's not very cool of him, cheating on your Mom, huh?" Soul sadly said.

"No, it's not cool! I **hate** Papa! He says he loves Mama but then he goes and be's with other women! I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! What sort of person says they love someone, but then goes and does something that hurts them!" The blonde seemed intelligent beyond her years, seeming to understand serious situations such as this one.

"I'll never love anyone! Love is stupid and isn't true at all, people just hurt each other in the end! Men are such pigs!" The girl concluded her rant with a huff.

Soul looked down at emerald eyes, they were filled with hatred, pain, and sorrow. "_I've got to do something to show her that not all people are bad...I can't let her continue her life hating all men and thinking the world is without any love. With this hatred, it'll consume her." _

The weapon didn't know what possessed him, but he leaved over and hugged the small figure. She seemed stunned, stiffening.

"Wha-you pervert! What are you doing?" Small fists banged on his back.

Soul wanted to comfort this girl, show her that there is good in the world, and there is true love; love that is unfaltering, everlasting, and pure. So he told her, "The world sucks, y'know? People can be mean to each other, and hurt each other... But there is good in this world. There are kind people, and brave people, and there will be people that will love you unconditionally. You shouldn't let your Papa show you otherwise. Things will be okay. You shouldn't close off your heart forever, Maka."

Emerald eyes widened in surprise and something seemed to open up inside of her soul. She let out her hatred and pain, as the younger Maka cried in Soul's arms, not even noticing that he already knew her name. She cried until her eyes ran dry, and the small girl was cuddling against the boy's chest.

"You know...you're really strange, for someone I just met..." the girl noted.

"Yeah, I know it may seem that way, but I know you, **Maka,"** Soul tried to get the little girl to notice who he** truly** was, but she didn't realize it.

"How do you know my name? I never told yo-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Soul was back on the walkway in the middle of the ocean, sitting on a bench, staring at his empty arms and the empty seat next to him. Ocean spray misted over the albino. "What?...What the _fuck_ just happened? I am SERIOUSLY going crazy. Did I just have a delusion on a bench?"

He calmed down a bit, remembering that he was inside of a soul, where anything could happen. He mulled over the events from the park, and his meeting with the younger meister. "_Maka must have been so sad and lonely as a kid...that stupid Dad of hers, I'm going to knock him a good one when I get back. He showed Maka such a bad side of people. I hope that what just happened, really did happen, and maybe I really did help to comfort Maka...Maybe I made her a bit happier. Argh, I gotta find her!"_

With that final note, he stood up and sprinted off down the walkway, towards an unknown destination and further challenges ahead.

Maka looked up from her knees, her cheeks streaked with dried tears. She couldn't cry anymore, there were no more tears left, just sadness remained. However, her heart suddenly felt a bit lighter. A small part of her heart seemed to perk up, as if the situation wasn't completely hopeless. She looked around at her surroundings to see the Red Imp sitting in a ripped, worn, black leather chair, sipping a glass of blood-red wine. He stared, grinning happily, at a humongous, stone wall stretched out in front of him. He seemed to be humming a horribly off-tune jingle to himself. The meister surveyed the wall; it seemed to endlessly reach left and right, and was incredibly tall. It looked pristine, except for a few, deep cracks that began to form...  
>Maka lowered her head back down, hugging herself tighter.<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I can no longer think of creative ways to explain that I don't own Soul Eater...gahhhhh.

Soooo... I did it. I'm ACTUALLY in college. And in a dorm room. With co-ed bathrooms. And a dining hall! It's seriously weird... I feel like I'm going to go home any minute. IS THIS REAL LIFE? Yes, yes it is Cyaat.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive and _**patient**_ for my writing! It makes me feel like I'm doing something right every time I read a positive review, which they all are! I'd like to thank LittleMissFirebug23, Smilesassy1123, DemonScytheSoul, Lexi-chan, LoveMeLikeCrazy, RavenAK, kishinhunter78 and Tenshi Yamo-Angel of Darkness for the review on my last chapter.

All of my readers who have been sticking by me, you guys are the best! 33

Now that I'm in college, I'm not sure what my writing/updating schedule will be, but I'll be sure to definitely still post and continue the story until the end! I'll make time, dammit. I've been soooooo busy with classes, homework, clubs and meeting new people, that writing this story has been pretty slow. So, I'm very sorry about that D: On a brighter note I can now do poi :D Which is pretty badass.

Oh! And I think that the chapters for a bit are going to be in Soul's POV, fyi. With a little bit of Maka thrown in at the end. I'm likin' that structure.

Nuff that, ONWARDS. I hope you guys enjoy this :) Please review or comment! 3

**-Birthday Bash Indeed **

**Soul**

"_I don't have enough __**time **__for this!" _The never ending pavement was getting seriously annoying. Soul had been running, and running, and_running_. "_Black Star and Kid must still be fighting Sutcliffe...I don't know how much longer they can last up there. Come on Maka, where the fuck are you?"_

Surprisingly, the scythe wasn't all that tired. He wasn't sure if it was from an adrenaline rush, or if things just worked differently in Maka's soul, but the albino thought that he could keep running for quite a while. However, he was extremely **pissed** off. Soul had been running for what seemed like miles, and not made much progress. On top of that, the ocean spray was drenching him, making him feel uncomfortable _and _messing up his hair. He had thought that by now, he would have found Maka, brought her back, and saved the day by killing the kishin, like the cool guy that he was. Though, on the positive side he figured that the illusion in the park he saw wasn't actually a hallucination, but an encounter with part of Maka's soul that represented her younger self. If that was true, then maybe Soul _was_ making some progress. At least he knew that he was heading in the right direction, even if the path never ended...

Up ahead, ruby eyes caught sight of a blur sitting on a bench. His heart quickened with hope that it was Maka. As he approached and his eyes came into focus, he noticed it wasn't a little kid like before, but a young girl. The girl's eyes were downcast and she had hunched shoulders, giving her a depressed aura. The figure was dressed in a black cloak, plaid skirt and a white button up adorned with a sweater vest and tie. White gloves were twisting together as her small hands fiddled nervously. To finish off her appearance, her ashen hair was in its typical pigtails.

"_If the Maka's I meet are getting older, then when I reach the end of this shit walkway, I'll get to meet the present Maka. Right? Ugh but what if I'm just imagining all this shit? Am I supposed to stop and talk to the different aged Maka's, or just keep running? It'd probably be faster to just keep running, but what if I'm supposed to talk to them? Gahh! Why isn't Maka here, __**now?**__ She's the smart one!" _

As the albino approached, he was met with glazed forest eyes; they seemed so sad and empty.

"H-hey," Soul uttered, taken aback.

"Hi," a fading voice responded.

"Uhh...Maka?"

"Huh? You know me?" Surprise showed through her voice.

"Y-yeah, don't you know _me?" _Soul was severely confused, how could his own meister not recognize him? She looked about the same age as when they met, so shouldn't she know him?

"No...I don't think I know you. I don't know many people here."

"What do you me-?" Once again, Soul looked around and realized he was no longer on the walkway in the middle of the ocean. Instead, he was standing inside of an empty classroom in Shibusen Academy; Maka was sitting in front of him, behind a blank desk.

"What are you doing sitting there by yourself?"

"This is going to be my new school starting tomorrow. It'll be my first day of Meister training, but... I don't have a weapon. There's really only one weapon I want, a scythe, but, I don't know...I've only heard of one scythe in this class..."

"If you have a weapon you want, why don't you just ask them?" Soul seemed genuinely intrigued by Maka's shyness. It seemed so out-of-character for her. The Maka he knew was the most stubborn, hot-headed, determined person he has ever met.

"Cause the weapon's a **boy**, and I hate men, I don't trust them. They all just cause pain in the end, betraying the people they claim they love!" Maka's voice was trembling and laced with disdain. The change in emotion caught Soul a bit off guard.

"I'm afraid that, even if he agrees to be my weapon, he'll still betray me and hurt me. All men are just liars and cheaters," She paused briefly, as if realizing something, and then continued, "Why am I even telling you this? We only just met."

Soul simply shrugged, trying to play off cool, "I'm just a really cool guy. But I'm a boy and you're trusting me, so that has to mean something, right?"

"It doesn't mean anything, you just happened to be there!" A faint tinge of blush, probably from anger and embarrassment, spread across the shocked meister's pale cheeks.

"_I can see the pain in her eyes...the mistrust, the fear, the hatred...Maka, were you really like this? Did you ever come to trust me, the person who loves you most? I would never hurt you, or betray you...now more than anything, I wish you were here so I could tell you that. What made your soul darken? What set it off? Someone must have hurt you pretty badly..." _

Guilt wove through Soul as he thought about how awful Maka must be feeling, what happened to her in the past, but he knew one way to get through Maka was logic and reason. He was going to have to try to seem smart...

"You know...it's not really fair for you to judge a person based on your past experience. It's not the person's fault that you happened to meet some bad people in the past. That doesn't mean that _they_ are bad too. You're not even giving them a chance to prove themselves."

The meister stared hard with fury into the scythe's glinting red eyes, when her emerald gaze softened a bit. Her expression melted into a small smile. "Yeah, I guess that's true..."

She looked contemplative again and spoke in a weary voice, "But how can I tell a good person from a bad one? How do I not get hurt? I'm just...so...tired of pain."

Soul thought for a moment, "I don't know if you can immediately tell a kind person from an asshole, but if you don't try, then you'll never know, and you may never meet some really awesome people then."

Maka took in Soul's words. She seemed to be processing them over and over in her mind, when it finally clicked and a grin cracked across her face.

"Yeah...you're right. I'm glad to have met you, uh... I don't think I ever got your name. Oh! And how did you know mine?" Maka seemed to realize that there was something weird about the current situation.

Soul opened his mouth to answer, but he could feel himself being pulled back towards the walkway, the path towards the center of Maka's soul. His time with this Maka was coming to an end.

"Maka, you should ask that scythe to be your partner. I know you're scared, but you're Maka Albarn, and you never run away and you never give up. Trust me on this," he showed his sharp toothy smile at the confused looking girl, "And Maka...listen to me, cause I know you're going to hear this. I don't know where you are, but I'm coming for you! **Soul** is coming for you, and I won't ever leave you or stop looking for you. You're strong enough to fight this! Fight back! You're not alo-!"

Soul didn't get to finish his sentence as he was hurled back onto the walkway with the roaring ocean.

"Gaahhhh damnit!" Soul let out his frustration into the whipping wind, his voice carried off into the distance.

"_I'm coming for you, and I'm going to save you! Just please be okay Maka."_

* * *

><p>Maka hugged her herself, resting her head on her knees. The Imp staggered away a short while ago...but he was expected back soon. He never <em>truly<em> left anyways.

Maka felt confused and empty inside, questioning everything that she felt insecure about, "_Why am I like this...why am I not stronger? Why do I care so much...why is there love? Why doesn't he love me? Why am I not prettier? Why am I not braver? Why did he go to Chupa Cabras? Why did he lie to me? Why do I exist? Why?"_

A small ping hit her heart, causing it to accelerate. Deep, encouraging words drowned out her negative thoughts, and softly echoed in her head and soul, they sounded so distant, but so kind and filled with...love?

"_And Maka...listen to me, cause I know you're going to hear this. I don't know where you are, but I'm coming for you! __**Soul**__ is coming for you, and I won't ever leave you or stop looking for you. You're strong enough to fight this! Fight back! You're not alo-!"_

The words faded out and died into the deafening silence. Maka's heart wouldn't calm down, her soul began to tremble and she felt a bit of warmth spread through her...

The reverberating cracking of stone brought the meister's attention to the stone barricade. It was beginning to crumble, with fractures spidering across the wall.

"Soul..." she whispered out, her heart feeling a bit lighter, filled with a little bit more hope. Her soul began to uncurl.

* * *

><p>The scythe hit the pavement propelling himself forward again, determined now more than ever to get to his love. As Soul was running, he could have sworn he heard his name being softly called through the harsh wind, but it was gone before he could realize. Off into the distance he saw a blurred shape forming. It appeared to be a large fortress, encircling the center of Maka's soul. He felt the soft brush of his meister's soul, leaking out from cracks, slowly unfolding it's wings. The albino felt elated simply to have finally found where his meister was, "MAKA!"<p>

Soul pushed himself harder, faster, down the walkway towards Maka; he failed to notice the ocean turning black or the danger ahead.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** Soul Eater is the most fantasmical thing ever created, and Cyaat doesn't have enough talent to have created the characters and universe, but she can make up stories :D

HOLY MOLY insert strong profanity here

My dear, dear readers. I have missed you. And I am so happy by all the comments you have left me, and I am so warmed by the people who continue to support me and read my story.

I always read everything you leave me, and whether you comment or favorite or whatever, I still am so grateful for everyone who has been with me so far! Please stay with me a bit longer while I finish Soul and Maka's story :)

That said, HOLY MOLY insert more strong profanity here. I have just finished my first semester at college. Man, does college consume your life. It has been an awesome, amazing, life-changing semester, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure that you have noticed I haven't updated, and for that, I am truly sorry. I can't offer any explanation or excuse other than, life.

THAT SAID, I am home for three weeks! Yay winter break! My goal is to finish this story by the time I leave (not a guarantee though). It's weird to be picking this story back up again. I hope that my writing is still enjoyable, and the story is still captivating. As always, please if you have something that you like or dislike, comment or message me to let me know. I always consider the advice and suggestions you leave and I always appreciate the support! ^.^ Thank you to those who commented on my last chapter: Tenshi Yami, LittleMissFirebug23, brielle-chan42, smilesassy1123, secretivelife, RavenAK, Lexi-chan, kishinhunter78, Akkadiansteel and chibimeme.

Sorry for making everyone wait so long!

I've kept you guys waiting for 3 months. SO LET'S GET ON WITH THIS CHAPTER . WOOOO!

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><p><strong>Birthday Bash Indeed<strong>

**Soul **

"_If I don't lose at least 5 lbs from all this goddamn __**running**__ or get at least some muscle tone or something, I'm going to commit MURDER," _Soul darkly, and surprisingly a bit serious, thought as he continued to close the gap between him and the large, stone fortress now clearly visible.

"_I'm so close, I'm so close, I'm so close! Maka, don't you dare give up and die, otherwise I'll kill you!" _

The weapon had never fought for something so hard in his entire life. The clever, intelligent, stubborn meister that was his, was worth his entire life, and even more. Soul would stop at no ends to get her back. Her alluring smile engulfed his thoughts as he pushed himself harder, faster, wanting to save her quicker. Maka had saved Soul on more than one occasion, and now it was his turn to save her. The love-struck boy filled his mind with motivating thoughts of the girl to excel himself. It seemed to work, because the crumbling wall was coming within his grasps.

"Just...a little...bit...farther!" Soul gasped out. He was running low on energy, and was about to collapse.

The scythe looked up, sweat dripping into his crimson pools, and the wind whipping across this stark white hair so that it lashed across his cheek, stinging. It felt like he was running through thick snow; it was as if some force was pushing him back. The wall was just a couple of hundred feet away now; the ocean around the boardwalk had become unknowingly black, with waves lapping in chaotic directions. Soul could sense Maka's soul clearer now. He didn't have Soul Perception like his partner, but as he and Maka grew closer together over the years, and especially in this soul realm, the weapon had come to sense aspects about his meister's soul. Right now, it felt like it was clenched tightly in a ball, with just a few of the wings barely stretching out. It was shaking with fear, and more intensely, a deep sorrow...and also, was that...?

"_Wha-what the...why didn't I notice this before? How could I have not seen Maka was __**this**__ bad. This is something else all together, and I'm pretty sure I know what caused this...I'm a fucking idiot..." _Soul berated himself, wanting to kick himself in the ass.

Just as he was going to approach the wall, a figure stepped in his way. It was tall with a shadow of pig tails, and a dress, swooshing around long, slender legs. It was Maka, present day.

"Maka! How..what the- I mean, are you okay?" Soul stuttered out in disbelief, looking Maka up and down, checking for injuries, but his heart felt cautious...something was off.

Soul noticed that Maka's dress was black, with fine lace on the arms. It fit her nicely...in fact perfectly. It was the dress that she wore in Soul's black room.

"Soul..." Maka whispered out, her eyes downcast.

"I know, I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, but I'm here now. I'm so glad you're okay, are you hurt any where?" Soul asked again, a bit more alarmed.

"Soul...hahaaaa...ha...Soul..ha...SOOOO~UUUUUL!" Maka screamed, her head snapping straight and her blonde hair whipping around her eyes.

She began to laugh maniacally. She chewed her fingers and grabbed, tearing at her face. Her eyes were solid black; there was no hint of the warm forest that once was there. In front of Soul, was a hollow shell of the meister he once knew. She was consumed by madness, a dark, menacing force. Soul's blood drained from his face, leaving it as pale as his hair.

"Ma-Maka, what the fuck, what happened? What possessed you to-? What's wrong? Please, for Shinigami's sake, talk to me," Soul's voice pleaded.

The high-pitch laughter deepened into a growl and the mad girl pranced around on the boardwalk, doing small pirouettes and swinging herself back and forth. She stood on the railing, grabbing a hold of the bar and leaning over.

"Ooooooh, it's so **BLACK**. Heheeheeeheeee. I _like _black. It's so, **black. **Don't you like black, Sooooooul?" She sneered his name; the albino stood there, stunned, with his stomach dropping to his toes.

"_I-I...I don't...what the...fuck...Maka...I, I don't even, oh my Shinigami...fuck," _Soul's thoughts were an incoherent mess.

"Guess you don't like black then, huh?" Maka giggled.

She reached over the edge to try to touch the dark liquid, appearing to fall over. The sight of her nearly disappearing into the black depths shook Soul aware. He lunged for her waist, so that he could save her from going over.

"Maka, wait! You're going to fa-" He dashed forward, his heart stopping.

The blonde sprung up and gracefully leapt aside as he snatched thin air. She continued to dance in to the middle of the walkway, laughing to herself.

"Swing, swing, swing,

I'll see you suffer yet, **Soul,**

I've got your pretty little meister captured, _Soul,_

I'll destroy her, and devour her whole,

You're soul will turn dark as charcoal,

and then I'll get to eat your soul, **Soul,"**

"Wha-what did you just say...?" The scythe inquired.

"Oh nothing~" was the taunting reply.

"Maka, SNAP OUT OF THIS. You're freaking me out! This isn't like you! Please, come back to me, I can help you, but you have to fight it first!" The boy tried to talk sense into the mad meister.

"Fi~ght? OOOooohhh, you want to, _fight? Heheeheehee_, let's FIGHT then!"

The meister haphazardly threw a punch at the weapon. He easily dodged out of the way.

"No, Maka, stop. You have to fight the madness!"

"Madness? Oooooooh, madness, no. Hahaaaha, this is _freedom. _I am no longer afraid of being abandoned, or unloved, or forgotten, or not strong enough or smart enough, or not pretty enough, or not _enough_. This, is enlightenment!"

Maka's punches became more precise, and Soul had to take more effort to dodge...he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep evading.

"_What is she talking about? She was afraid of all those things...but...that's so much, for one tiny person...I always thought, that she was so confident...how much didn't she tell me? How long as she suffered?" _

"Maka, listen, I don't want to hurt you, please, stop this!" Soul again dodged a heavy incoming hit.

"Hahhaa yes, hurt me, please. It makes me feel sooo much better." A creepy smiled stretched across Maka's face, revealing a cheshire grin.

"Wha-" Soul's memory flashed to during the fight with the Kishin...where he thought he had seen cuts on Maka's thighs. Realization hit him like the punch that Maka just landed on his face. The albino staggered backwards, grabbing his cheek.

"Those weren't cuts from the Kishin, where they? Yo-you cut yourself, Maka?" Soul could barely utter the words.

Maka incessantly snickered in response.

"_I'm the most idiotic, useless partner there ever was...how could I have not noticed? Why couldn't I have helped her? Why is she so depressed? Does she want to die? I-I can't believe this..." _

The thought of Maka cutting herself, or worse, a world where Maka killed herself, and he, Soul, the person who _**loved **_her more than anyone else and who was supposed to protect her, hadn't done anything to help her and was useless, caused vomit to lurch at the back of his pointy teeth.

Dazed, more punches hit Soul, knocking him to the ground. Maka used the side rail as leverage as she kicked her leg up and brought it back down with such force, that Soul was pretty sure a few ribs cracked. He didn't notice the physical pain, only the mental pain that was racing through his mind.

"D'awwhh you're no fun Soul! Taking everything like the dying dog that you are, _**Soul**_**,****" **The last word wasn't said in Maka's voice, but in a deeper, disgusting, scratchy voice laced with dripping blood and malice.

This caused the weapon to snap out of it, and finally become aware of his situation.

"_There is no way in hell that was Maka...this can't be Maka...but...if it is Maka's body and she's being possessed, if I fight back then I'll still be harming her. Gaahhh fuck, what do I do now?" _

He looked around, the small girl was charging full force at him to attack again, they were still on the boardwalk, there was a vast, chaotic, black ocean, and that huge wall was still there...In fact, hadn't Soul sensed Maka's soul _behind _the wall? Soul decided to take a gamble. It could cost him his life...or worse, it could harm Maka.

"Oi, Bozo, I know you arn't Maka, you made a biiiiig mistake back there, using your real voice," Soul tried to taunt the Maka impostor.

"Hahaha now you're mad! I AM Maka!" The blonde stopped in her place, sounding offended and defensive.

"The real Maka is still behind that wall...because that wall is guarding her soul. I can sense it, now that I've calmed the fuck down and realized the truth. Now that I know that her soul is behind that wall, I can hurt you all I want, which means you are going to pay for fucking with me like that, and impersonating Maka," Soul grinned a terrifying, pointy smile, while standing up and cracking his knuckles. His eyes burned fire red with bloodlust.

The girl looked shaken; her mouth wide open in disbelief that the boy managed to figure it out. Using this opening, the weapon partially transformed into a scythe, and leapt up on the railing. He then used the height to gain an advantage against the impostor. He jumped further up, and sliced down hard on top of ash hair. The blade cut through cleanly.

"_Please don't be the real Maka, please don't be the real Maka!" _was all Soul was thinking as he severed the girl in half.

His suspicions were confirmed as blackness oozed from the girl-form, dribbling down into a thick, sticky puddle at his feet. Soul sighed in relief.

"Holy FUCK. That scared the SHIT out of me," Soul heavily breathed, grabbing his now aching ribs.

Soul stepped over the black puddle, and walked towards the fortress.

Finally, after all his efforts, he reached the base of the wall. Soul stopped and crumbled to the ground, utterly exhausted. He breathed heavily in and out, trying to suck in oxygen. He felt dizzy. After a couple of minutes, he caught his breath and stood up again; his legs wanted to give out, but he forced himself to stand tall. He examined the wall. The stone was a dull, fading grey color; it was cold and jagged, with cracks appearing across the entire wall.

"_Maka...I know you're inside of here. Just how do I get through this stupid wall?" _ Soul thought, frustrated.

"MAKA!" The weapon roared into the dark sky, his arms at his sides, clenched into fists. "I've found you! I'm going to save you, no matter what! **YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH!**"

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><p>Maka now sat straight up, her knees still against her chest. Her breathing became steadier, and her soul unfolded a little more. That feeling immediately dissipated when the Imp staggered back in; he was holding his head as black blood dripped down his face, he was cursing as he stumbled into his large, ragged chair.<p>

"That FUCKING **SOUL EATER EVANS...** figuring out my charade. I'll DEVOUR him for it and I'll make her suffer even more for this!" The Imp shook with anger at the thought of Soul outwitting him.

He then turned to the blonde meister. "Well, well, well, what do we have here...conscious are we? You and you're little _boy_ are going to pay for this, and I will have my fill of delicious, delicious, souls."

The Imp got up from the chair and walked over to Maka. She tried to shrink away, but he snatched her anyways. Just as he grabbed her by her pigtails and pulled her head upwards, Soul's voice echoed from over the wall.

"_I've found you! I'm going to save you, no matter what! **YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH!**"_

Maka tried not to allow herself this small, glimmer of hope, but nonetheless, a small smile gathered on her paling lips.

The Imp shook Maka's head back down before he spat, "Shit."


End file.
